The U.S. Department of Energy announced plans to lend $850 million to a company for the construction of a battery-cell manufacturing plant.
According to a release, the loan would be used to help build a massive Arizona facility that will produce batteries for electric cars as well as energy storage systems. The release stated that energy storage systems allow the storage of intermittent sources like wind and solar.
The press release said that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office announced today a conditional loan commitment of $850 million to finance the construction of KORE Power, Inc.’s advanced battery-cell manufacturing facility in Buckeye, Arizona. The facility, named ‘KOREPlex’, aims to improve the domestic battery supply by increasing the nation’s capacity for manufacturing battery cells for energy storage systems and electric vehicles.
The Biden Administration, which has a climate alarmist agenda and wants Americans to stop driving gas-powered cars, is pushing Americans to make the switch.
The press release said that the KOREPlex would produce 6 GWh per year of battery storage capacity, which would power over 28,000 EVs and replace an estimated 11.8 millions gallons gasoline each year.
The department stated that this facility would reduce reliance on other countries such as China.
Batteries are the power source for electric vehicles. ESS allows energy from renewable intermittent sources like solar and wind to be stored, and then dispatched when needed. The Department of Energy said that bringing battery manufacturing back home is crucial to reduce America’s dependence on other countries, like China, who currently dominate the industry and supply many American companies with material to resell batteries made abroad.
The 1,330,000 square foot KOREPlex will house two production line, which will produce batteries for EVs and ESS. The KOREPlex facility will also produce unique battery cell chemistries including nickel manganese-cobalt and lithium iron phosphate. Both of these chemistries do not use cobalt, and could help reduce the reliance on foreign supply chain usage.
Energy Department stated that certain conditions must be met prior to the loan being issued.
The press release stated that “While this conditional loan commitment shows the Department’s intention to finance the project,” several steps are still needed to achieve critical milestones and certain conditions need to be met before the Department can issue a final grant.
