The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Summary of battery materials companies and projects funded by White House grants - Metal Tech News - October 19, 2022
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $2.8 billion in grants for 20 projects to expand the domestic manufacturing of materials for lithium batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy.
Here is a brief rundown of the grants and projects under this American-made battery materials initiative.
6K Inc. will receive $50 million in federal funds and plans to invest another $57.4 million to demonstrate the ability to domestically produce NMC 811 and lithium iron phosphate battery chemistries in a plant to be built at a Southeast U.S. state with the capacity of 3,000 metric tons per year and ready in 2025, scaling to 10,000 tpy in 2026 using its patented UniMelt microwave plasma processing technology.
Albemarle U.S. Inc. will receive $149.7 million and plans to invest another $225.9 million to construct a lithium materials processing plant in North Carolina that will upgrade 2.7 million tons of spodumene minerals from the site's lithium mine to 6% lithium oxide spodumene concentrate. Such a plant would feed a 50,000-metric-ton-per-year conversion plant to produce battery-grade lithium-hydroxide to support domestic manufacturing of lithium-ion battery cells to power 750,000 EVs per year.
American Battery Technology Company will receive $57.7 million and plans to invest another $57.7 million to build and operate a commercial-scale facility to demonstrate a novel process for manufacturing 5,000 metric tons of battery cathode-grade lithium hydroxide from unconventional Nevada-based lithium-bearing sedimentary resources per year.
Amprius will receive $50 million and plans to invest another $140.1 million to demonstrate the manufacturing of silicon nanowire anode technology, which increases energy density and decreases the costs compared to traditional graphite anode material, at multi-megawatt-scale manufacturing. The location for this demonstration plant for Amprius' ultra-high-energy-density battery technology has not been determined.
Anovion Battery Materials will receive $117 million and plans to invest another $294 million to build a plant in Alabama capable of producing 35,000 tons of synthetic graphite anode material per year for lithium-ion batteries used in EVs and energy storage systems.
Applied Materials, Inc. will receive $100 million and plans to invest another $124 million to establish an advanced pre-lithiation and lithium anode manufacturing facility to accelerate the transition to next-generation lithium-ion batteries. The proposed 5 gigawatt-hour facility in North Carolina will support industrial-scale production of advanced anodes for multiple battery cell makers and EV manufacturers.
Ascend Elements will receive $316.2 million and plans to invest another $316.2 million to establish an industrial-scale plant in Kentucky that uses the company's proprietary Hydro-to-Cathode technology for sustainable and low-cost precursor lithium-ion battery cathode materials by integrating the separation of critical cathode materials from spent batteries with the production of both precursor cathode active materials and metal salts.
Ascend Elements will receive a second grant of $164.4 million and plans to invest another $164.4 million to plan, design, and construct a plant in Kentucky capable of producing enough cathode active materials to support the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for 250,000 EVs per year.
Cirba Solutions will receive $75 million and plans to invest another $107.5 million to expand and upgrade its lithium-ion recycling facility in Ohio. At full operation, this recycling facility will have the capacity to produce enough battery-grade critical minerals to power more than 200,000 new EVs per year.
ENTEK will receive $200 million and plans to invest another $1.24 billion to scale up its lithium battery separator production with the construction of a new separator plant in a yet-to-be-determined location with the capacity to produce more than 1 billion square meters of separator material per year, enough supply for roughly 1.4 million EVs per year.
Group14 Technologies Inc. will receive $100 million and plans to invest another $222.9 million to produce a next-generation silicon-carbon composite called SCC55 to displace graphite in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries. SCC55 is a composite of amorphous, nanosized silicon within a porous carbon scaffold to create a structure with high energy density, cycle stability, and fast charge capability. Washington-based Group14 intends to build two 2,000 tpy manufacturing modules.
ICL-IP America Inc. will receive $197.3 million and plans to invest another $232.3 million to build a plant in Missouri capable of producing 30,000 metric tons of high-quality lithium iron phosphate battery cathode powder per year.
Koura will receive $100 million and plans to invest another $306.6 million to develop the first U.S. manufacturing plant for lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), a compound used as an electrolyte in lithium batteries, at the company's existing fluorochemical production site in Louisiana. Koura's proposed plant will produce up to 10,000 metric tons of LiPF6 per year, enough to support the domestic production of more than 1 million battery-electric EVs per year.
Lilac Solutions will receive $50 million and plans to invest another $129.3 million to demonstrate the commercial-scale production of lithium using the company's IX lithium extraction technology. To be demonstrated at the company's project in Nevada, this technology has the potential to unlock lithium production from domestic resources that are unviable with current methods, which could vastly expand domestic lithium supply.
Microvast will receive $200 million and plans to invest another $304.5 million to expand its cutting-edge battery separator manufacturing capacity to enough material for 19 gigawatt-hours of EV batteries per year. This company currently produces enough separator material for 2 GWh of batteries at its plant in Tennessee.
NOVONIX Anode Materials LLC will receive $150 million and plans to invest another $877.3 million to build a plant in Tennessee capable of producing 30,000 metric tons of synthetic graphite for EV batteries per year. The company is currently building its first mass production facility in the U.S., which is capable of producing 10,000 metric tons of battery-grade synthetic graphite per year.
Piedmont Lithium Inc. will receive $141.7 million and plans to invest another $430.4 million to build a world-class lithium hydroxide facility in Tennessee. Construction of this plant is slated to begin in 2023, and at full production, this facility is expected to produce 30,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide per year, doubling the domestic production of this critical EV battery ingredient.
Sila Nanotechnologies will receive $100 million and plans to invest another $300 million to build a 600,000-square-foot factory in Washington that will produce the company's proprietary silicon anode material beginning in 2025. At full production, which is expected to be achieved by the end of 2026, this facility will be able to produce enough of this proprietary anode material to power 200,000 EVs per year.
Solvay Specialty Polymers USA will receive $178.2 million and plans to invest another $178.2 million to build a new battery-grade polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) facility in Georgia. PVDF enables EV batteries to go farther on charge, contributes to cycle life, and enhances battery durability.
Syrah Technologies LLC will receive $219.8 million and plans to invest another $225 million to expand its Vidalia graphite anode facility in Louisiana. The company is currently building a phase-one facility at Vidalia that will upgrade graphite from its Balama Mine in Mozambique to 11,250 metric tons of advanced anode material per year. The federal funding will support the expansion of Vidalia anode material production capacity to at least 45,000 metric tons per year.
Talon Metals Corp. will receive $114.8 million and plans to invest another $318 million to build a lithium-ion battery minerals processing facility in North Dakota. Talon, which is advancing a nickel-copper mine in Minnesota, has signed a supply agreement with Tesla for 75,000 metric tons of nickel in concentrate. The Talon and Tesla supply chain will produce nickel, copper, cobalt and iron in nickel and copper concentrates for multiple battery chemistries.
Further information on the objectives of the federal grant program and the Battery Workforce Initiative announced by the White House can be read at $2.8B US battery supply chain infusion in the current edition of Metal Tech News.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
Reader Comments(0)