DOE designates $3 billion for the advanced battery supply chain

The Department of Energy announced on Friday an additional $3 billion in funding for domestic battery development. The money represents the second round of awards as part of two programs put into place by the 2021 infrastructure law: Battery Materials Processing, and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling.

• The top line: This second round of funding will be distributed between 25 projects across 14 states, spanning raw materials extraction, separation, and processing, as well as component and battery manufacturing, and recycling.
• The market grounding: The global battery industry is in the midst of a shakeout, with some advanced battery companies raking in cash while others, including European investor darling Northvolt, have faltered. DOE’s funding also comes as the need for long-duration storage — in large part to provide clean, firm energy for data centers and domestic manufacturing — is becoming increasingly urgent.

One of the projects that received funding is iron-air storage company Form Energy, known for the development of a 100-hour battery; it will receive up to $150 million to scale production of its batteries in Weirton, West Virginia. With DOE’s help, Form will install its first large commercial-scale 20 gigawatt hour per year iron-air battery manufacturing line, with the goal to reach full capacity by 2027.

As Form CEO Mateo Jaramillo said on the Catalyst podcast late last year, multi-day storage is critical to replace gas plants and meet the needs of the grid during significant weather events. Commercializing that storage is today’s challenge —  but as Jaramillo told host Shayle Kann, Form is “well on the path to being able to introduce, at scale, that cost-effective multi-day storage asset.”

Other recipients of major DOE grants include American Battery Technology Company, which was awarded $150 million to build a new commercial scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in South Carolina. TerraVolta Resources, meanwhile, snagged $225 million to develop a commercial scale lithium extraction and refining facility in Texas to produce “battery-grade lithium from domestic brine resources.” And in Colorado, Solid Power Operating Inc. will put $50 million toward manufacturing components for solid-state batteries.