Richland is in the running to be home to a 40,000-square-foot facility that produces lithium-ion battery components.

And a new program that offers tax breaks to manufacturers could be key in enticing Cenate, the Norwegian company proposing the factory, to build here. Butte, Montana also is being considered.

A decision is expected in mid-2024.

The facility will be Cenate's first American factory. The company specializes in silicon-containing anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

The materials are used in everything from cellphones to drones, electric vehicles and power plants.

The Richland City Council in November authorized selling a 50-acre industrial site to the company for $3.75 million, or $75,000 per acre.

The land is in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park, which is within the city's new Targeted Urban Area, or TUA.

The TUA program was adopted by the state Legislature in 2022 to help communities bring in living-wage jobs by enticing manufacturers to urban areas. Companies that build or expand within the targeted area get a break on city property taxes on new improvements for 10 years. 

Their projects must meet certain criteria, including that they’re valued at $800,000 or more and create at least 25 family living wage jobs. 

The Cenate project "is a testament to Richland's dedication to sustainable energy solutions. If selected, this collaboration is expected to create 250 living-wage jobs, further enhancing the city's economic landscape," Richland officials wrote in a statement. Mandy Wallner, the city's economic development manager, confirmed that the project would be eligible to apply for TUA.

If the factory ends up in Richland, a second phase could involve expansion onto additional land.

The Cenate move into the United States has been in the works for a while.

Cenate last August announced that it was moving toward mass production both in Norway and the states. 

Courtesy Cenate 

"In Norway, the imminent launch of a small-scale commercial production aligns seamlessly with Cenate’s pilot plant located at Holtskogen, chosen for its accelerated time-to-market advantage," a news release said. The release also said the company had secured access to an industrial site in Butte, with "substantial tax abatements enhancing its competitive edge."

But the release noted that "one or two more sites in the U.S. are being pursued in parallel."

Richland’s TUA was established by the city council last year. 

The city became the first in the state to use the TUA program when it accepted ATI Inc.'s application to expand operations in Richland. The Dallas-based company has operated a plant on Kingsgate Way since 1998, and it's now adding a second furnace and vacuum arc remelting capability there as part of a multimillion expansion that will add 100 jobs.

The plant specializes in melting titanium and titanium alloys for aerospace, defense and industrial markets.

The Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park was established by the city, Port of Benton and Energy Northwest, with the property conveyed through the Tri-City Development Council, or TRIDEC, from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2016 for economic development.