(Bloomberg) —
The Biden administration is poised to lend $1.2 billion to Entek Lithium Separators LLC to help expand the US supply chain for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.
The closely held battery component maker has been offered a conditional loan by the US Energy Department to help pay for a new manufacturing facility west of Indianapolis that will make lithium-ion battery separators mainly for EVs, according to a Tuesday announcement by the government agency. The loan dovetails with broader White House goals of expanding domestic clean energy supply chains.
Entek specializes in making lithium-ion battery separators, a membrane sandwiched between a battery’s anode and cathode. When finished, Entek’s facility in Terre Haute, Indiana will be able to manufacture 1.72 billion square meters of the material a year, enough to support about 1.9 million midsized EVs, the agency said.
“With this loan, we have a clear path to having enough operating and planned capacity to meet the president’s goal of 50% EVs and plug-in hybrid sales by 2030,” said Jigar Shah, director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office.
The separators made at Entek’s new facility will help US battery manufacturers qualify for EV tax credits under Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. The Energy Department estimates that North America’s lithium-ion EV battery industry will require annual separator production of 7 to 10 billion square meters by 2030.
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