Biden goes big on batteries

The Energy Department announced plans to funnel over $3 billion into proposed projects across the U.S. for producing advanced batteries and materials.

Why it matters: It’s among the biggest White House efforts to seed a domestic supply chain for materials used in EVs and energy storage.

• These subsidies sit at the intersection of three administration goals: energy transition, building U.S. industries, and countering China’s dominance in this space.

Driving the news: It’s the second funding round for these kinds of projects under the 2021 infrastructure law. Among the 25 developments across 14 states will be:

• $225 million for SWA Lithium — a JV between Standard Lithium and energy giant Equinor — to extract the material from Arkansas’ Smackover Formation.
• $166 million for the South32 Hermosa Project to produce manganese sulfate monohydrate — a material used in EV batteries — in Arizona. There’s also $166 million for Element 25 (Louisiana) to refine the material.
• $155 million for American Battery Technology Co. to build a recycling plant in South Carolina.
• $100 million for Mitra Chem to build a Michigan plant for making lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active materials, a key battery component.
• $199 million for EnerSys Advanced Systems to produce lithium-ion cells in South Carolina.

Yes, but: The cash doesn’t all arrive at once. Companies must meet various milestones, and some first-round projects have not ultimately gotten the money.

• An official told reporters that negotiations can end for reasons like companies having siting problems, changing their project scope, and pursuing other kinds of financing.

What they’re saying: Mitra Chem CEO Vivas Kumar said the DOE selection matters for reasons beyond the cash itself.

• He says the DOE choosing Mitra after careful technical vetting helps “de-risk” the project for outside investors.
• Kumar is also optimistic that the project’s economic footprint insulates it from a potential political change, despite Donald Trump’s criticism of EVs.
• It would create hundreds of construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs in Muskegon, Michigan, he said.

The bottom line: National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard told reporters the awards move the U.S. closer to “building an end-to-end supply chain for batteries and critical minerals here in America, from mining to processing to manufacturing and recycling, which is vital to reduce China’s dominance of this critical sector.”