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EnerVenue opens China battery factory after abandoning $264M Kentucky plant
Sep 23, 2026
📍 Phliadelphia,PA, USA
# U.S. Battery Startup EnerVenue Opens Factory in China After Dropping Kentucky Plan
U.S. battery startup EnerVenue has begun production at a new manufacturing facility in China after abandoning plans to build its first factory in Kentucky, highlighting the challenges some emerging energy companies face when attempting to establish advanced manufacturing capacity in the United States.
The Changzhou facility began operations as President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. EnerVenue CEO Henning Rath said the timing was coincidental and that the company's decision to manufacture in China was primarily driven by the availability of specialized skills, suppliers and industrial infrastructure.
Changzhou describes itself as China's “new energy capital,” and Rath said the region's dense network of industrial suppliers was a major factor in the company's decision.
“The secret sauce is this industrial cluster,” Rath told Reuters, pointing to the concentration of companies specializing in hydraulics, pneumatics and automation, as well as engineers capable of rapidly modifying and improving production equipment.
Rath said the ecosystem made it possible for EnerVenue to develop what he described as a first-of-its-kind production line more efficiently than it could have done elsewhere.
He also said that proving the company's manufacturing process at commercial scale would have been difficult with the amount of capital available if production had been established in the United States.
When Rath joined EnerVenue in April, he made building the company's manufacturing operation in China a condition of accepting the position.
### Kentucky Factory Plan Was Abandoned
EnerVenue had announced plans in 2023 to establish a manufacturing facility in Kentucky. The first phase of the proposed project was expected to cost approximately $264 million and create around 450 jobs.
The company abandoned the project the following year.
Rath described the Kentucky experience as a valuable learning opportunity but said the company's technology was not yet sufficiently mature at the time to support the planned manufacturing operation.
The company instead moved ahead with Changzhou, where the local industrial ecosystem provided access to equipment suppliers, engineers and manufacturing expertise.
A floor manager at the new facility told Reuters that Chinese suppliers can sometimes develop equipment without requiring payment until a design is adopted. Foreign equipment suppliers, by comparison, often require upfront payments.
The manager also said graduate engineers in the area earn roughly 12,000 yuan, or about $1,792, per month, illustrating another cost difference between the Chinese and U.S. manufacturing environments.
### NASA-Derived Battery Technology
EnerVenue was founded by Yi Cui, a Stanford University materials science professor, and develops nickel-hydrogen batteries based on technology used by NASA in applications including the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.
The company is targeting the growing market for energy storage as renewable power generation, electric grids and data center demand increase the need for large-scale battery systems.
The Changzhou facility is approximately 95% automated and is expected to employ about 400 people by the end of the year.
EnerVenue has not disclosed the exact cost of the plant. Rath estimated that the facility's investment was in the range of $20 million to $50 million.
He said government assistance was primarily limited to areas such as permitting, certification and site selection.
### Plans for Global Expansion
EnerVenue raised more than $300 million in a funding round in March. The financing was led by Full Vision Capital, the family office of Hong Kong property heir Peter Lee Ka-kit.
Other investors included Saudi Aramco and SLB. Rath also said Towngas, which is part of Lee's broader business group, is among EnerVenue's customers.
The company describes itself as “an American company with a Chinese footprint,” reflecting its intention to maintain its U.S. identity while using China as an important manufacturing base.
EnerVenue expects to reach annual production capacity of 250 megawatt-hours this year, equivalent to roughly 300 battery cells per day.
The company plans to increase that capacity to 1 gigawatt-hour by the third quarter of 2027 as demand for its battery technology grows.
### China as a Manufacturing Launchpad
EnerVenue also plans to establish additional manufacturing facilities in North America, the Middle East and Europe beginning in 2028.
The company expects to select locations for those facilities next year as it develops a broader global production network.
Rath nevertheless emphasized the importance of China's manufacturing ecosystem to the company's current strategy, describing the country as a “factory of factories” and an important stepping stone toward global production.
EnerVenue's experience illustrates the competing factors facing emerging battery manufacturers as they balance government incentives, labor costs, supplier networks, engineering expertise and access to manufacturing infrastructure when deciding where to build production capacity.
U.S. battery startup EnerVenue has begun production at a new manufacturing facility in China after abandoning plans to build its first factory in Kentucky, highlighting the challenges some emerging energy companies face when attempting to establish advanced manufacturing capacity in the United States.
The Changzhou facility began operations as President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. EnerVenue CEO Henning Rath said the timing was coincidental and that the company's decision to manufacture in China was primarily driven by the availability of specialized skills, suppliers and industrial infrastructure.
Changzhou describes itself as China's “new energy capital,” and Rath said the region's dense network of industrial suppliers was a major factor in the company's decision.
“The secret sauce is this industrial cluster,” Rath told Reuters, pointing to the concentration of companies specializing in hydraulics, pneumatics and automation, as well as engineers capable of rapidly modifying and improving production equipment.
Rath said the ecosystem made it possible for EnerVenue to develop what he described as a first-of-its-kind production line more efficiently than it could have done elsewhere.
He also said that proving the company's manufacturing process at commercial scale would have been difficult with the amount of capital available if production had been established in the United States.
When Rath joined EnerVenue in April, he made building the company's manufacturing operation in China a condition of accepting the position.
### Kentucky Factory Plan Was Abandoned
EnerVenue had announced plans in 2023 to establish a manufacturing facility in Kentucky. The first phase of the proposed project was expected to cost approximately $264 million and create around 450 jobs.
The company abandoned the project the following year.
Rath described the Kentucky experience as a valuable learning opportunity but said the company's technology was not yet sufficiently mature at the time to support the planned manufacturing operation.
The company instead moved ahead with Changzhou, where the local industrial ecosystem provided access to equipment suppliers, engineers and manufacturing expertise.
A floor manager at the new facility told Reuters that Chinese suppliers can sometimes develop equipment without requiring payment until a design is adopted. Foreign equipment suppliers, by comparison, often require upfront payments.
The manager also said graduate engineers in the area earn roughly 12,000 yuan, or about $1,792, per month, illustrating another cost difference between the Chinese and U.S. manufacturing environments.
### NASA-Derived Battery Technology
EnerVenue was founded by Yi Cui, a Stanford University materials science professor, and develops nickel-hydrogen batteries based on technology used by NASA in applications including the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.
The company is targeting the growing market for energy storage as renewable power generation, electric grids and data center demand increase the need for large-scale battery systems.
The Changzhou facility is approximately 95% automated and is expected to employ about 400 people by the end of the year.
EnerVenue has not disclosed the exact cost of the plant. Rath estimated that the facility's investment was in the range of $20 million to $50 million.
He said government assistance was primarily limited to areas such as permitting, certification and site selection.
### Plans for Global Expansion
EnerVenue raised more than $300 million in a funding round in March. The financing was led by Full Vision Capital, the family office of Hong Kong property heir Peter Lee Ka-kit.
Other investors included Saudi Aramco and SLB. Rath also said Towngas, which is part of Lee's broader business group, is among EnerVenue's customers.
The company describes itself as “an American company with a Chinese footprint,” reflecting its intention to maintain its U.S. identity while using China as an important manufacturing base.
EnerVenue expects to reach annual production capacity of 250 megawatt-hours this year, equivalent to roughly 300 battery cells per day.
The company plans to increase that capacity to 1 gigawatt-hour by the third quarter of 2027 as demand for its battery technology grows.
### China as a Manufacturing Launchpad
EnerVenue also plans to establish additional manufacturing facilities in North America, the Middle East and Europe beginning in 2028.
The company expects to select locations for those facilities next year as it develops a broader global production network.
Rath nevertheless emphasized the importance of China's manufacturing ecosystem to the company's current strategy, describing the country as a “factory of factories” and an important stepping stone toward global production.
EnerVenue's experience illustrates the competing factors facing emerging battery manufacturers as they balance government incentives, labor costs, supplier networks, engineering expertise and access to manufacturing infrastructure when deciding where to build production capacity.
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