GNO, Inc. Sunday Night Highlight – New Orleans = New Energy 🔋⚛️

This month, two alternative energy companies selected New Orleans for their new headquarters:  Australian battery materials maker Sicona in New Orleans East, and advanced nuclear developer Applied Atomics in Bywater.

For decades, oil and gas have made Louisiana a global energy leader, and today that same expertise is attracting cutting-edge energy technologies. Under the state’s all-of-the-above strategy, batteries, nuclear, hydrogen, renewables, and more are growing alongside traditional energy.

Sicona’s path to New Orleans began on a 2025 business mission to Australia, where GNO, Inc., World Trade Center New Orleans, and Louisiana Economic Development met with the company.  Sicona later acquired local battery materials startup ADVANO and is bringing production to the New Orleans Regional Business Park, located across from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, while keeping research activity at LSU New Orleans Research and Technology Park.  Sicona’s New Orleans East facility is expected to produce enough material for more than 3 million battery cells, with applications ranging from data center backup systems to drones and defense.  Said Sicona Founder and CEO Christiaan Jordaan: “This is our home now for what we want to do in America.”

Applied Atomics, led by two former SpaceX employees, came to Louisiana through its ties to Newlab New Orleans, which GNO, Inc. and partners brought to Louisiana. The company is operating from Newlab’s beta space, while it converts a 18,500-square-foot building on Chartres Street into its headquarters, fabrication shop, and training center.  The $8.2 million project will create 41 jobs averaging $121,000.  No radioactive materials will be handled or stored at the site.  Applied Atomics is coming at a time when Louisiana’s Nuclear Strategic Framework, launched in March, targets related manufacturing, generation, and fuel work. Further, NASA is beginning to explore nuclear power for spaceships. Applied Atomics CEO Ben Kellie told The Advocate, “It’s a great location strategically and a really enjoyable place to be.”

You can read more about Sicona here.

You can read more about Applied Atomics here.