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In whole, there’s $2.8 billion for 20 initiatives throughout 19 firms. (Ascend Elements, a recycling and refining firm, received two grants for 2 totally different steps of their course of, totaling almost half a billion {dollars}.)
Here’s what caught out to me in regards to the awards:
- The funding is essentially for commercialization, not analysis, so there’s so much right here that might rapidly have an effect on markets.
- There appears to be a concentrate on lithium processing, with 4 firms successful grants on this space. Nickel and graphite processing additionally made the record.
- Companies making lithium iron phosphate batteries obtained a few grants. This chemistry is a lower-cost, barely lower-performance model of lithium-ion batteries. These are a rising a part of the market and will change into much more necessary since they don’t include cobalt, one of many metals that specialists are most anxious about.
- Silicon anodes received a few grants—these aren’t used broadly immediately in EVs however may very well be coming quickly, and can probably assist push vary greater. (More on that tech right here.)
One winner
After the announcement, I spoke with Ryan Melsert, CEO of American Battery Technology Company (ABTC). ABTC is a battery supplies firm working each on battery recycling and on a brand new methodology of lithium extraction and refining.
The firm acquired about $58 million to construct a commercial-sized lithium processing facility in Nevada. The undertaking was already in progress, however the inflow of federal money actually helped pace up the timeline, Melsert says. “We’re happy with the tailwinds we have and the support we’ve received,” he says.
But ABTC continues to be looking out for much more funding alternatives, particularly to help their mining actions, Melsert says. He has his eyes on the Defense Production Act, which President Biden enacted earlier this yr to help battery provide within the US and will likely be targeted largely on mining.
It’s not all in regards to the cash although. “I think there are still more hurdles to go through,” Melsert says. The allowing course of particularly may very well be a barrier to its and different new mining initiatives.
What’s subsequent
There’s loads extra money the place this funding got here from. Expect to see billions extra in grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law handed out to battery firms within the coming months.
There’s additionally funding from the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Defense Production Act coming. It’s like local weather tech Christmas!