The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 25 projects to enter negotiations for a portion of $3 billion in funding aimed at boosting domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials.
The funding will support projects across 14 states, focusing on the expansion, retrofitting, and development of new facilities for battery-grade minerals, battery components, and recycling.
The program, overseen by the DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, will provide funding through grants and loans, pending successful negotiations and environmental reviews.
These projects follow an initial round of funding in which the DOE allocated $1.82 billion to 14 projects for the extraction of materials like lithium and graphite, as well as battery component manufacturing.
Among the new recipients, SWA Lithium LLC, a joint venture between Standard Lithium Ltd and Equinor ASA, plans to use the funds to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate in Arkansas.
TerraVolta Resources LLC will build a facility to extract and refine lithium from brine resources in the Texarkana area. Both projects will utilize Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology.
Group14 Technologies is another recipient, potentially receiving up to $200 million to construct a silane factory in Moses Lake, Washington. The facility is expected to become the largest producer of advanced silicon battery materials globally, with an initial production capacity of 4,000 tonnes of silicon-based material.
CEO Rick Luebbe emphasized the importance of increasing U.S. production of silane gas, currently dominated by China: “The largest global source of silane today is China, so the supply of silane gas in the U.S. must be increased to secure the U.S. silicon battery industry.”
