The U.S. Energy Department said Friday it plans to award $3 billion to 25 battery manufacturing sector projects in 14 states as the Biden administration works to shift the supply chain away from China.
The projects will increase domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials and follows the adoption of U.S. EV tax credit rules to shift battery production and critical minerals away from China.
The awards fund battery-grade processed critical minerals, components, battery manufacturing, and recycling, and will generate $16 billion in total investment for the projects and support 12,000 production and construction jobs, the department said.
“Mineral security is essential for climate security,” said White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi. “This sets us up to lead on the next generation of battery technologies – from solid state to other new chemistries.”
Albemarle is set to receive $67 million for a project in North Carolina to produce commercial quantities of anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries, while Honeywell is set to receive $126.6 million to build a commercial-scale facility in Louisiana to produce a key electrolyte salt needed for lithium batteries.
DOE plans to award Dow $100 million to produce battery-grade carbonate solvents for lithium-ion battery electrolytes, while Clarios Circular Solutions, which is partnering with SK ON and Cosmo Chemical, is set to receive $150 million for a project in South Carolina to recycle lithium-ion battery production scrap materials from SK ON, the battery unit of SK Innovation.