Battery materials and technology company Novonix (ASX:NVX) has received a conditional commitment from the US Department of Energy or a direct loan of up to US$754.8 million ($1.185 billion) to partially finance a proposed new facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The proposed financing is being offered under the department’s Loan Programs Office’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.
If finalised, the loan would be deployed towards partially financing the construction of the Chattanooga facility to manufacture synthetic graphite primarily for use in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Novonix’s facility is poised to become the first large-scale production site dedicated to high-performance synthetic graphite for the battery sector in North America.
It is slated to begin commercial production in 2025, with plans to grow output to 20,000 tonnes per annum to meet current customer commitments.
At full capacity, the new facility is expected to produce approximately 31,500 tonnes per annum of synthetic graphite, which can support the production of lithium-ion batteries for approximately 325,000 EVs each year.
Previously, the company announced that the DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains awarded the company a US$100 million grant and that it was selected for a US$103 million investment tax credit towards the funding of the facility.
China currently has over 95% market share for battery-grade graphite. The new facility is expected to reach full production capacity by the end of 2028 and is anticipated to create 450 full-time operational jobs and 500 construction jobs.
Novonix CEO Chris Burns says recent announcements from China to further scrutinise the export of battery-grade graphite to the US highlight the importance of domestic production of high-performance, battery-grade synthetic graphite.
Burns says the conditional commitment is the culmination of years of hard work and is another critical milestone for our anode materials business towards target production of 150,000 tonnes per annum in North America.
“This conditional commitment from the government to invest in our new facility continues to underscore the focus on localising critical materials in the battery supply chain, such as graphite,” the CEO adds.
“Our offtake agreements with strong partners have strengthened our leadership in onshoring the synthetic graphite supply chain in North America and supporting the path towards US energy independence.”
This year, Novonix signed binding offtake agreements to supply synthetic graphite to Panasonic Energy, Stellantis, and PowerCo. To meet this demand, the company has previously discussed plans to build a new facility in the southeastern US which could expand up to 75,000 tonnes per annum of production capacity.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Novonix
