Federal funds to support construction of U.S. infrastructure for the recovery and purification of graphite from used lithium-ion batteries.
Ascend Elements and Koura Global, an Orbia company, were selected Friday to receive a $125 million cost-sharing grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. The grant is part of a $3 billion federal investment in 25 selected projects across 14 states to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials nationwide.
The cost-sharing funds identified for Ascend Elements and Orbia are for construction of advanced battery recycling infrastructure to recover graphite from used lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap. The grant may fund facilities in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and St. Gabriel, Louisiana.
“The Biden/Harris Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy continue to show great leadership in support of the domestic battery materials and recycling industries,” said Roger Lin, VP of Government Relations at Ascend Elements. “It’s critical that the United States develop its domestic lithium-ion battery materials and recycling infrastructure if we are to remain competitive in the global battery economy and transition to clean energy and renewables.”
Ascend Elements’ Hydro-to-Anode® graphite recovery and purification technology allows production of high-quality, low-emission, recycled graphite ready for use in batteries with no loss of performance versus virgin graphite. The graphite recovery technology complements Ascend Elements’ existing Hydro-to-Cathode® technology.
Developing domestic sources of graphite is extremely important in the wake of Chinese limits on graphite exports to the United States.
Ascend Elements is working closely with Orbia’s Koura Global and the U.S. DOE on next steps in the project.
Read more from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.