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Binghamton University’s battery hub wins national competition, up to $160 million in fed funding

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke at Binghamton University Monday.
Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo
/
WSKG News
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke at Binghamton University Monday.

Binghamton University’s battery research and manufacturing hub has won a national competition that will bring in millions of dollars in federal funds. The hub is one of ten projects across the country to win the award.

BU will receive $15 million in federal funding for the next two years and potentially up to $160 million over the next decade.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the award Monday. He said the federal dollars will fund cutting-edge research in battery development at BU.

“Today's award has been years in the making, a long chess game with strategically-placed pieces to help the Southern Tier get a once-in-a-generation opportunity to jolt a transformative economic revival in the region that requires federal investment,” Schumer said.

The initiative, led by Binghamton University and a coalition of research partners called New Energy New York, hopes to attract startups and private companies to the region. Those companies could use the battery hub’s research to manufacture batteries for commercial products, create longer-lasting batteries, or come up with new ways of storing energy.

Binghamton University was previously awarded over $63 million in federal funds and $50 million in state funding for its battery hub project. Last year, the project also received a “tech hub” designation that opened the door for increased federal funding.

“All three of these awards, but particularly this one, were very sought after,” Schumer said. “There were hundreds and hundreds of competitors throughout the country. But because of the excellence of the program here at Binghamton University, because of our great labor force, not only in the Southern Tier but in all of New York state, upstate New York, we won.”

The contest, from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program, was created by the CHIPS & Science Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2022. The legislation was meant to boost domestic technology manufacturing, including research and development in the semiconductor and battery industries.