The federal government will hand out an additional $3 billion to startups in the buzzy battery tech sector.
The investment, announced by the Biden administration on Friday, is the latest capital injection from $16 billion the Department of Energy has set aside for the construction of domestic battery manufacturing, processing and recycling facilities. It's part of the broader Inflation Control Act, passed into law in August 2022, which includes incentives to boost the domestic battery industry and reduce reliance on China, the world's battery incumbent.
Portions of this funding were awarded to startups across 14 states, with some winners capturing the majority of the 18,000 jobs expected to be created as a result of this funding. South Carolina companies received the most funding, with $850 million awarded to five projects. For example, Cirba Solutions won $200 million to build, own, and operate a large-scale battery-grade salt processing facility to support the electric vehicle market.
Four Michigan companies received a combined $355 million in grants. General Motors-backed MitraChem won $100 million from the Department of Energy and another $25 million from the Michigan Competitiveness Fund. The company is partnering with Sun Chemical to build a facility to develop and manufacture lithium iron phosphate materials for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
The DOE also awarded $125 million to venture-backed battery recycling startup Ascend Elements and chemical manufacturing company Orbia to build a recycled graphite production facility in Kentucky that will convert graphite residue from lithium-ion battery recycling and cathode material production into battery-grade graphite.
Loans and grants will be available to companies operating across the entire battery supply chain, from mining critical minerals to producing cathode and anode materials, producing electrolyte salts to recycling batteries.
The list of startups that secured funding includes:
The DOE has awarded $3 billion to 25 battery startups as part of its Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling programs. Image credit: U.S. Department of Energy
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