Freyr Battery rebrands as T1 Energy

Freyr Battery has announced its rebranding as T1 Energy Inc., marking its shift away from a focus on battery manufacturing to solar PV production and storage. The company recently cancelled its $2.6 billion Georgia battery gigafactory plans and will trade under the new ticker “TE” on the NYSE starting March 3, 2025.

The pivot comes after Freyr’s massive retreat and realignment and further changes in the battery manufacturing landscape. The abandonment of the plans for a Georgia battery factory and the aims of 200 GWh of battery production by 2030 and the sale of the site, followed Kore Power’s abandonment of a $1.2 billion Arizona battery plant.

In late 2024, the newly named T1 Energy acquired a 5 GW solar cell facility in the U.S. from Trina Solar for $340 million. It also continues to advance a battery facility in Norway, after some cutbacks to size and scope in previous years, though the company has not made significant new information available about progress in recent months.

Calls to T1 Energy representatives indicated no further information on Giga Artcic was available other than in the last investor presentation made in October, when the company detailed that it “has continued to advance value optimization with leading strategic, industrial, and financial stakeholders based on less capital-intensive, value accretive business models. These include high value adjacencies to the battery value chain including digital battery platforms and data center opportunities for Giga Arctic balanced by Battery Energy Storage Solutions.”

In short, the multiple moves highlight the difficulties in entering the competitive battery manufacturing sector, especially while competing with a rapidly growing battery manufacturing sector in China. 2024 saw record battery gigafactory cancellations globally, exceeding 312 GWh according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, higher than in previous years.

New focus

T1’s new focus centers on its operational solar module facility in Wilmer, Texas – dubbed “G1 Dallas” – which employs over 1,000 people. The company also has said it is planning a second U.S. solar cell manufacturing facility, “G2,” with site selection expected in Q1 2025.

T1 Energy will have its headquarters in Austin, Texas, and is positioning itself to leverage U.S. tax benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act while focusing on domestic solar manufacturing capacity.

Comment:

Daniel Barcelo, T1’s chairman of the board and CEO: “The rebirth of our company as T1 Energy is about American energy, jobs, and advanced manufacturing. The U.S. needs domestic supply chains and manufacturing capacity to harness its abundant solar resources. T1 is committed to building that capacity. More than 80% of new U.S. electricity capacity in 2024 was solar and batteries. T1 plans to lead in the solar and battery markets by enabling the growth in energy supply required to support AI, data centers, reshoring, and electrification – to restore American industrial capacity and leadership in future advanced industries.”