Redwood Materials to get $2 billion US loan

Abstract

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has made a conditional commitment to give Redwood Materials a $2 billion loan to expand a factory in Nevada that will make cathode material and copper foil for lithium-ion batteries. The facility will also recycle old batteries. Redwood aims to make 100,000 metric tons (t) of cathode material and 36,000 t of copper foil per year, which is enough for 1 million electric vehicles. Those targets are comparable with the scale of battery material plants in Asia, where most battery components are made today. North America currently has little cathode production capacity , but several firms have plans for large facilities. LG Chem is planning a 120,000 t nickel-based cathode plant in Tennessee , while Umicore , BASF, and a joint venture between GM and Posco all want to build nickel-based cathode plants in Canada. Gotion and ICL Group hope to make lithium iron