Federal officials awarded $3 billion in grants for projects designed to advance domestic production of materials used in electric vehicles and batteries.
The funds are part of an effort by the Biden administration to wean the United States off its reliance on materials from China and other foreign countries.
"By positioning the U.S. at the forefront of advanced battery manufacturing, we are creating high-paying jobs and strengthening our global economic leadership and domestic energy security," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a news release.
Grants were awarded to 25 projects in 14 states, with South Carolina, Michigan, Louisiana and Arkansas being the biggest winners. The grants announced Friday are the second round of funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The earlier round awarded $1.82 billion in grants for 14 projects.
Much of the funding from the latest round is focused on projects related to mining and processing lithium and other minerals used in EV batteries and on projects that use new technologies to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries.
South Carolina projects grabbed the most money during the second funding round with five companies winning a total of $849 million in grants. In Michigan, four companies were awarded a total of $355 million. Two projects in Louisiana won $293 million in grants and one company in Arkansas won $225 million in funding.
Some of those states may have additional projects that further raise their grant funding. TerraVolta Resources won $225 million for a lithium processing plant that it said will be in the Texarkana region that straddles the Arkansas-Texas state line.
Historic properties
Grants were awarded to two projects slated for development at historic manufacturing sites: NanoGraf won $60 million to redevelop the site of a former General Motors plant, and Form Energy won $150 million to transform a portion of a former steel plant in West Virginia.
NanoGraf is planning to build a manufacturing facility in Flint, Michigan, for its silicone anode material used in EV batteries. The facility will be located at the site of General Motors’ former Buick City automotive manufacturing plant. NanoGraf’s technology is designed to help lithium-ion batteries retain a charge for longer distances and to make batteries that weigh less. The battery is by far the heaviest component of an electric vehicle.
NanoGraf is in talks with Ashley Capital about locating its factory in the Flint Commerce Center industrial park, Kevin Hegg, vice president at Ashley Capital, told CoStar News. Ashley Capital developed and owns the park. NanoGraf estimates it will invest about $175 million in the Flint facility, a figure that includes the $60 million federal grant.
Flint Commerce Center includes a completed 330,000-square-foot building that’s half leased to a packaging company, Hegg said. NanoGraf may occupy the other half in the short term while Ashley Capital develops a second building specifically for NanoGraf. Final decisions have not yet been made, he said.
Meanwhile, Form Energy plans to use its grant to develop an iron-air battery manufacturing facility on a portion of the former Weirton Steel Works plant in Weirton, West Virginia. The facility is already under construction.
Two projects focused on lithium processing in the region of southwest Arkansas and northeast Texas won $450 million in grant funding. A joint venture between Equinor and Standard Lithium plans to develop a processing facility near Lewisville, Arkansas, and TerraVolta wants to build its complex in the Texarkana region but didn't specify whether the project was in Arkansas or Texas.