Syrah Resources said that its fully-owned subsidiary Syrah Technologies has been awarded a grant of up to $220m from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the expansion of its Vidalia active anode material (AAM) facility in Louisiana.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing grant will cover a significant part of the projected capital costs of the expansion project.
Through the project, Syrah Technologies aims to increase the capacity of the graphite-based AAM facility to 45,000 tonnes per annum (45ktpa). Currently, the company is building the facility with an initial production capacity of 11.25ktpa for which it previously secured a loan of A$146m ($91m) from the DOE.
The US DOE grant is part of the $2.8bn funding awards announced by the department earlier this week for 20 projects that could help boost local manufacturing of batteries in the US for electric vehicles and the electric grid.
The grants will be made by the DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) in association with the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Syrah Resources, MESC, and EERE will finalise a binding funding agreement for the grant.
The definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the development of the Vidalia expansion project, including its initial capacity, is currently being completed by Syrah Resources.
The DFS will be followed sequentially by the detailed engineering, procurement, and construction phases, subject to the approval from the Australian firm’s board approval as well as financing and customer commitments.
Separately, Syrah Resources has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LG Energy Solution to evaluate the supply of natural graphite AAM from the Vidalia facility.
