Energy Department plans to loan company $850 million to construct battery cell manufacturing plant

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced plans to loan $850 million for a company to build a battery cell manufacturing plant.

The loan to KORE Power, Inc. would help to pay to build a massive facility in Arizona which is slated to produce batteries for electric vehicles as well as for energy storage systems, according to a press release. Energy storage systems enable the storage of energy produced by intermittent sources such as wind and solar, the release indicated.

"The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) today announced a conditional commitment for an $850 million loan to help finance the construction of KORE Power, Inc.'s advanced battery cell manufacturing facility in Buckeye, Arizona," the press release stated. "The facility, called 'KOREPlex,' aims to strengthen the domestic battery supply chain by significantly increasing the nation’s battery cell manufacturing capacity for energy storage systems (ESS) and electric vehicles (EVs)."

The Biden administration, which pushes a climate alarmist agenda, wants Americans to transition away from driving traditional gas-powered vehicles.

"The KOREPlex will produce an estimated 6 GWh of battery cell storage capacity annually, which could power more than 28,000 EVs annually and displace an estimated 11.8 million gallons of gasoline per year," the press release stated.

The department claimed that the facility would allow for decreased reliance on countries like China.

"Electric vehicles, which represent a rapidly growing share of new vehicle sales, are powered by advanced batteries. ESS allow energy from intermittent renewable sources, like wind and solar, to be stored and dispatched as needed. Onshoring battery manufacturing is critical to reducing America's reliance on other nations, such as China, which currently dominates the industry and supplies many American companies with materials to resell foreign-made batteries," the department said.

"The 1,330,000-square foot KOREPlex building will house two production lines, which will manufacture batteries for EV and ESS. The KOREPlex plant will also produce two unique battery cell chemistries, including both nickel manganese cobalt chemistry, and lithium-iron phosphate, which does not utilize cobalt and may help reduce reliance on foreign supply chains use of that critical material," the press release stated.

The Energy Department noted that there are conditions that need to be met before the loan is issued.

"While this conditional commitment demonstrates the Department's intent to finance the project, several steps remain for the project to reach critical milestones, and certain conditions must be satisfied before the Department issues a final loan," the press release stated.

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