US announces $3 billion in funding for new battery projects

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced plans to award more than $3 billion to more than two dozen battery projects in 14 states. The money will go toward processing key minerals, building batteries and components, and recycling batteries. It’s part of the Biden administration’s push to boost domestic production to support climate goals.

Batteries are an increasingly hot commodity needed for electric vehicles and to store renewable energy from solar and wind projects. New battery plants are popping up across the U.S., thanks in part to federal support in the form of grants, loans and tax incentives.

The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. The 25 projects announced today have been selected for awards, but will still have to go through a negotiation process with the Department of Energy (DOE) and complete an environmental impact assessment to receive any money. The DOE projects the funding will create 12,000 jobs, 8,000 of which will be in construction.

The two projects selected to potentially receive the largest sums of money are both set to produce lithium from brine, each initially earmarked for up to $225 million in funding. The joint Standard Lithium-Equinor project in Lewisville, Arkansas, is expected to produce up to 45,000 metric tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over two decades.

The second project, run by TerraVolta Resources in the Texarkana area, is expected to have a production capacity of 25,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent per year once it is operational. That’s enough lithium for about 500,000 electric vehicles, according to a DOE project description.