The U.S. Department of Energy has granted a $102.1 million loan to Syrah Technologies, LLC, for the expansion of its Syrah Vidalia facility, which produces graphite-based, active anode material used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other technologies, a news release said.
“Securing critical materials, such as lithium and graphite, is essential to increasing domestic production of batteries to power the growing number of EVs on our roadways,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. “DOE’s investment in Syrah Vidalia builds on President Biden’s goals to secure our clean transportation future and grow the United States's electric vehicle and advanced battery manufacturing workforce.”
The Syrah Vidalia facility is the only vertically integrated, large-scale AAM manufacturer outside of China and the first in the U.S., the news release said.
"We're ensuring our clean energy tech is American-made," the DOE tweeted. "Our $102M loan to expand a critical minerals processing facility will give us the resources we need to bolster the lithium-ion supply chain, which means more affordable EVs for American families. This project is expected to produce about 2.5 million of these cars by 2040, which could save roughly 970 million gallons of gasoline."
The expansion could potentially create 150 construction jobs and 98 operations jobs, which would "help families keep food on the table and the lights on," the DOE tweeted.
It's the first loan since 2011 from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, and also the first loan exclusively for a supply chain manufacturing project, the DOE said.
