(Adds Biden quote) By David Shepardson and Ernest Scheyder WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Biden administrationsaid on Wednesday it is awarding $2.8 billion in grants to boostU.S. production of electric vehicle batteries and the mineralsused to build them, part of a bid to wean the country offsupplies from China. "By undercutting U.S. manufacturers with their unfairsubsidies and trade practices, China seized a significantportion of the market," President Joe Biden said Wednesday inannouncing the awards."Today we're stepping up... to take itback, not all of it, but bold goals." Albemarle Corp is among the 20 manufacturing andprocessing companies receiving U.S. Energy Department grants todomestically mine lithium, graphite and nickel, build the firstlarge-scale U.S. lithium processing facility, constructfacilities to build cathodes and other battery parts, and expandbattery recycling. The grants, which are going to projects across at least 12states, mark the latest push by the Biden administration to helpreduce the country's dependence on China and other nations forthe building blocks of the green energy revolution. The funding recipients, first reported by Reuters, werechosen by a White House steering committee and coordinated bythe Energy Department with support from the Interior Department. But the program does nothing to alleviate permitting delaysfaced by some in the mining industry. Albemarle is set to receive $149.7 million to build afacility in North Carolina to lightly process rock containinglithium from a mine it is trying to reopen. That facility wouldthen feed a separate U.S. plant that the company said in Junewould double the company's lithium production for EV batteries. Albemarle, which also produces lithium in Australia andChile, said the grant "increases the speed of lithium processingand reduces greenhouse gas emissions from long-distancetransportation of raw minerals."
Piedmont Lithium Inc , whose shares rose nearly 11%following the news, was awarded $141.7 million to build its ownlithium processing facility in Tennessee, where the company willinitially process the metal sourced from Quebec and Ghana.Piedmont's plans to build a lithium mine in North Carolina havefaced strong opposition. Talon Metals Corp , which has a nickel supply dealwith Tesla Inc , will receive $114.8 million to build aprocessing plant in North Dakota. That plant will process rockextracted from its planned underground mine in Minnesota.
The grants are "a clear recognition that production ofdomestic nickel and other battery minerals is a nationalpriority," Talon said.
Other grants include $316.2 million to privately-held AscendElements to build a battery parts plant, $50 million toprivately-held Lilac Solutions Inc for a demonstration plant forso-called direct lithium extraction technologies, $75 million toprivately-held Cirba Solutions to expand an Ohio batteryrecycling plant, and $219.8 million to Syrah Technologies LLC, asubsidiary of Syrah Resources Ltd , to expand a graphiteprocessing plant in Louisiana. BIDEN'S GOAL By 2030, Biden wants 50% of all new vehicles sold in theUnited States to be electric or plug-in hybrid electric modelsalong with 500,000 new EV charging stations. He has not endorsedthe phasing-out of new gasoline-powered vehicle sales by 2030. Legislation tied to the program that Biden signed in Augustsets new strict battery component and sourcing requirements for$7,500 consumer EV tax credits. A separate $1 trillioninfrastructure law signed in November 2021 allocates $7 billionto ensure U.S. manufacturers can access critical minerals andother components to manufacture the batteries.
The White House said that the United States and allies donot produce enough of the critical minerals and materials usedin EV batteries.
"China currently controls much of the critical mineralsupply chain and the lack of mining, processing, and recyclingcapacity in the U.S. could hinder electric vehicle developmentand adoption, leaving the U.S. dependent on unreliable foreignsupply chains," the White House said.
In March, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act tosupport the production and processing of minerals and materialsused for EV batteries. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and ErnestScheyder in Houston; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose;Editing by Alexandra Alper; Bernadette Baum, Matthew Lewis, PaulSimao and Deepa Babington)
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