Novonix receives conditional loan commitment in the US
Novonix wants to manufacture synthetic graphite primarily for use in electric vehicle batteries in Tennessee. Stellantis and Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo recently signed an agreement with the company for potentially up to 115,000 tonnes and at least 32,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite material, respectively. Panasonic and LG Energy Solution are also on board.
The new facility is said to reach full capacity by the end of 2028. It “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.” The company specified that production capacity could even be expanded to 75,000 tonnes per year.
It would be Novonix’s second production facility. The first facility, which is also located in Chattanooga, should be up and running next year. It will have an output of 20,000 tonnes annually and serve the above-mentioned customers. Novonix was recently awarded a $100 million grant by the DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) and was selected for a $103 million investment tax credit towards the funding of the Riverside facility.
The now-announced conditional loan commitment of $754.8 million ($692 million in principal and $62.8 million in capitalized interest) would be paid through the Loan Programs Office (LPO).
“This announcement is the culmination of years of hard work and is another critical milestone for our anode materials business towards our target production of 150,000 tpa in North America,” said Novonix CEO Chris Burns. “This conditional commitment from the government to invest in our new facility continues to underscore the focus on localizing critical materials in the battery supply chain, such as graphite.”
He continued: “Recent announcements from China to further scrutinize the export of battery-grade graphite to the United States highlight the importance of domestic production of high-performance, battery-grade synthetic graphite. 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.”
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