Google is helping bring cutting-edge battery tech to an old West Virginia strip mine

For decades, a sprawling site in West Virginia was mined for coal, and part of the operation is still active. But on a 500-acre section abandoned 20 years ago, something new is taking shape: a clean-energy project pairing solar power with cutting-edge battery technology that could help renewables deliver electricity around the clock. The $350 million project, called Mammoth Solar, will sell energy to Google, which has a goal to get to 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where it operates.…