Heron Power to build $100M California factory for grid equipment

Heron Power, a power-electronics startup led by former Tesla executive Drew Baglino, has announced plans to build a $100 million manufacturing facility in Morgan Hill, California. The company has signed a lease for a 286,000-square-foot industrial building to serve as its first large-scale U.S. plant, intended to produce the Heron Link system.

The Heron Link is a 5-megawatt medium-voltage power conversion system designed for large-scale energy projects and data centers. The company aims to produce up to 10,000 units annually, representing more than 40 gigawatts of production capacity. Mass production is expected to begin in late 2027.

This investment targets the growing demand for grid interconnection driven by renewable energy, electric vehicles, and data center construction. Baglino noted a significant supply challenge in the industry, stating that standard transformers can currently face lead times of up to four years due to a reliance on imported components. Heron Power intends to manufacture its chip-based, software-controlled transformers domestically to address these shortages.