The ‘war’ between the US and China continues to dominate the technology of the future. In this case, the sector in which the North American country has set its sights has been that of batteries for electric vehicles. The Joe Biden government, in close partnership with the Department of Energy, have announced grants totaling $2.8 billion.
The objective is promote within the United States the production of batteries for electric vehicles and the minerals used to build them, in an attempt to overtake China, until today the world leader in the sector. It should be remembered that its Covid 0 policy put the production of these batteries and the global supply chain in general on the ropes for months.
These grants will go to at least 12 states where plants will begin to be built for the mass production of these batteries. And, therefore, erase any dependence on the Asian giant. “As the world transitions from a fossil fuel to a clean energy-driven economy, we cannot trade dependence on oil from Putin for dependence on critical minerals from China,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters.
This millionaire figure will be distributed in a series of companies where some will use said money to carry out their own projects. While for others, it will be a kind of lifeline to continue expanding their skills throughout the US. Continue producing batteries and continue generating jobs.
Some companies that will receive financing
One of the most important is Albermale, which already occupies a relevant role in the manufacture and processing of lithium, graphite and nickel extraction in the country. Albermale’s plans go through building the first large-scale lithium processing plant on US soil, build cathode manufacturing facilities, and expand the number of battery recycling facilities. In total, it will receive almost 150 million, where a good part of said amount will go to the construction of a factory in North Carolina to lightly process rock that contains lithium from a mine that will open soon.
Later this new plant will supply another plant located in a city yet to be determined in the southeastern United States and which will have as its objective produce lithium for electric vehicle batteries. It should be noted that Albermale already produces this mineral in Chile and Australia.
Another of the big lucky companies will be Piedmont Lithium, which will receive 141.7 million dollars in order to build its own lithium processing plant in Tennessee. In it, he will process metal from Quebec and Ghana. And, in addition, it will build a lithium mine in North Carolina.
The third major winner will be Talon Metals with 114.8 million dollars. In this case, to set up a processing plant in North Dakota. The company already has a nickel supply agreement with Tesla. Talon will extract rock from its underground mine in Minnesota and ship it for processing.
Other grants they include 316.2 million to the private company Ascend Elements for the construction of a battery parts plant; 50 million to Lilac Solutions Inc for a demonstration plant of what are known as direct lithium extraction technologies; 75 million to the company Cirba Solutions with the aim of expanding a battery recycling plant in Ohio; and 219.8 million to Syrah Technologies LLC. for the expansion of a graphite processing plant in Louisiana
