- Ambrosia Energy is building a battery factory in Texas to support solar plans for data centers.
- The factory is designed to produce 10 GWh of batteries annually, with full capacity expected to be reached in two to three years.
- Ambrosia pairs solar power with batteries, believing it to be the cheapest and fastest option for deployment.
- The company focuses on simplifying equipment to reduce costs and enhance competitiveness.
Ambrosia Energy has begun construction of a battery factory near Austin, Texas, aimed at supporting its planned network of solar power plants for data centers. The facility, covering 150,000 square feet, is designed to produce 10 GWh of batteries annually, with full capacity expected to be reached in two to three years. Co-founder and CEO Ben Longmier announced the project on Tuesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco. The startup is developing solar and battery systems to provide continuous power at a cost of US$100 per MWh (approximately HK$780), utilizing daytime generation to supply users and store energy for use after sunset.
Longmier stated, "This allows us to build about 300 MW of generation capacity on-site each year."
Combination of Solar Power and Batteries
Ambrosia aims to provide continuous power and emerged from stealth mode in June, planning to build power plants serving data centers. Longmier and co-founder Sara Spangelo chose to pair solar power with batteries, as they believe it is the cheapest and fastest option for deployment. The duo previously created the satellite constellation startup Swarm and sold it to SpaceX. Their power plants are designed to split the solar generation task during the day into two parts: supplying the data centers and charging the batteries.
The stored power can then support operations during the night and on cloudy days. This approach requires more solar generation capacity than what is provided to customers as continuous power.
Plans for Commercial Power Plants
Longmier indicated that Ambrosia will also begin construction of its first commercial power plant in West Texas later this year. The project will pair 300 MW of solar panels with 660 MWh of battery storage, expected to output 30 MW of continuous power, with a target uptime of 99.3%.
Longmier noted that certain parts of Ambrosia's first pilot-scale power plant have been running continuously for over 100 days. The pilot is capable of generating 200 kW of power around the clock. The commercial project will significantly scale up but will retain the same basic combination of solar generation and battery storage. Longmier stated that while additional solar panels and batteries are needed to maintain supply after sunset, Ambrosia can still remain profitable at a cost of US$100 per MWh (approximately HK$780). At this price point, the company aims to compete with natural gas turbines used by many hyperscale data center projects.
This cost claim remains one of the company's assessments, accompanied by clear targets for commercial output and uptime.
The company purchases battery cells and assembles battery packs in-house rather than manufacturing the cells themselves. Longmier said, "We buy existing battery cells and manufacture our own battery packs internally, with about 100 times fewer components than any other competitor we've seen." He added, "We can acquire bare batteries at about 1.3 times the cost, compared to 5 or 7 times for most fixed storage systems." To achieve its pricing goals, Ambrosia focuses on simplifying equipment, including solar racking and battery packs.
According to Longmier, reducing the number of components and manufacturing more equipment in-house helps lower costs compared to sourcing from external suppliers.
Ambrosia's next challenge is to translate these manufacturing savings into commercial operations while meeting its power cost and uptime targets.
Item Specifications Battery Storage Capacity 660 MWh Expected Output Power 30 MW Uptime Target 99.3% Pilot Power Generation Capacity 200 kW Cost per MWh US$100 (approximately HK$780)
Ambrosia's Competitive Strategy and Market Positioning
Ambrosia Energy's battery factory plans demonstrate its ambitions in the renewable energy sector, particularly in response to the demands of data centers. As the need for continuous power in data centers grows, the company has chosen to combine solar power with battery systems, which not only reduces costs but also enhances the stability of power supply. By simplifying equipment and reducing the number of components, Ambrosia can offer power at more competitive prices, which is crucial for competing with traditional energy suppliers. In the future, how the company translates these strategies into commercial success will be key to its ongoing development.