| Work Detail |
Iron-air battery manufacturing and numerous recycling plants are among the projects set to benefit from the latest round of funding from the Department of Energy (DoE).
The Department of Energy has announced more than $3 billion in funding to support battery materials extraction, processing, production and recycling in an effort to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials.
After the first round of the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling program allocated $1.82 billion to 14 projects, the latest round of financial support will benefit 25 projects in 14 states, subject to environmental assessments and negotiations with selected applicants.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s “Investing in America” program aims to generate a total investment of $16 billion for battery manufacturing and recycling through this program “in order to establish a strong and reliable energy supply chain” and “create good-paying jobs.”
Projects supported in the second round of the program include Enersys Advanced Systems, which could receive more than $199 million for a 5 GWh battery manufacturing plant in Piedmont, South Carolina, with a planned start-up date of 2028.
Form Energy, Inc. could receive $150 million for a 20 GWh production line for its 100-hour iron-air batteries in Weirton, West Virginia.
Further upstream, Albemarle US Inc could receive $67 million to upgrade a manufacturing facility in North Carolina to produce 50 metric tons (MT) per year of lithium metal anode materials.
Separators
Braskem America Inc. could receive $50 million to modernize and expand its La Porte, Texas, plant to produce ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene for battery separators.
The same figure has been assigned to Cabot Corporation for its Van Buren Township plant in Wayne County, Michigan, which will produce about 1,000 tons per year of battery nanotubes and up to 12,000 tons of conductive additive dispersions, which connect the active materials in battery electrodes.
Dow Chemical has sought $100 million to demonstrate the production of battery-grade carbonated solvents — used in lithium-ion battery electrolytes — from waste CO2 at a Gulf Coast site.
Ski US, Inc. wants $150 million for a synthetic graphite production plant in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
In the recycling space, American Battery Technology Company could receive $150 million to build a 100,000-ton-per-year lithium-ion battery recycling plant in South Carolina.
Ascend Elements Inc has requested $125 million for a new battery graphite recycling plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Blue Whale Materials LLC is seeking $55 million to expand its Bartlesville, Oklahoma, recycling plant to produce 50,000 tons a year of its precursor material, “black sand,” up from its current annual production capacity of 14,000 tons. Black sand is a precursor for the recovery of cobalt, nickel and lithium.
Material for cathodes
Li Industries, Inc. has requested $55.2 million to retool a manufacturing facility in Kettering, Ohio, to recycle 10,000 tons per year of cathode active material for lithium ferrophosphate (LFP) batteries.
Instead, Mitra Future Technologies Inc will manufacture the same material for LFP devices at a facility in Muskegon, Michigan, with the help of $100 million in funding from the DoE.
Other successful candidates include projects to extract raw materials for batteries and centers dedicated to supplying devices, components and raw materials for transportation, with a particular focus on the burgeoning U.S. electric vehicle industry.
Announcing the latest awards, the DoE said the 25 selected projects, which could benefit from a combination of loans and non-repayable grants - in unspecified proportions - would support more than 8,000 construction jobs and more than 4,000 operational jobs.
"Almost 90%" of the projects - 22 of them suggest - are located in or near disadvantaged areas. US President Joe Biden wants 40% of the benefits of the US energy transition to reach these areas. |
