Binghamton University awarded more than $63M in federal funding for battery research and manufacturing hub

VESTAL, N.Y. — Binghamton University and its coalition of partners have won $63.7 million in federal funding for the New Energy New York project, with plans to establish a national hub for battery innovation, manufacturing, and workforce development in upstate New York.

New York State will also support the project with an additional $50 million, bringing total funding to $113.7 million.

New Energy New York is a coalition led by Binghamton University and NY-BEST. Its proposal includes establishing a national center for battery technology and manufacturing, the Battery-NY Center, in an Opportunity Zone in Endicott. The center will provide the foundation of funding needed to advance research, attract companies, secure the battery supply chain, and strengthen American manufacturing. The entire initiative will have an estimated $2 billion economic impact.

The project is one of only 60 awardees in phase one of the challenge. Binghamton University received $500,000 last year to develop a full proposal to compete for up to $100 million. Binghamton’s proposal was among 21 projects, and one of just two in New York, to receive between $25 million and $65 million in federal funding.

“The New Energy New York (NENY) team has worked hard on this project, and without the leadership and guidance from Sen. Schumer from the beginning, we do not believe we would be here today,” Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said in a press release. “Distinguished professor and Nobel Prize winner Stan Whittingham and our Associate Vice President Per Stromhaug had an idea they believed was crucial to our nation’s energy security. They, along with their team and the NENY coalition members, have carried the concept to this point where we can stand here today as winners of the EDA’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge.”

 He continued, “With this win, and with the tremendous financial support from New York state Gov. Kathy Hochul, we are confident we can turn the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions of New York into the national hub for battery innovation, manufacturing, and workforce development.”