US to loan KORE Power $850 million for Arizona battery cell plant

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department on Friday said it plans to loan KORE Power Inc $850 million to build an advanced battery cell manufacturing facility in Buckeye, Arizona.

The facility, called "KOREPlex," aims to strengthen the U.S. battery supply chain by significantly increasing cell manufacturing capacity for energy storage systems and electric vehicles.

The low-cost government loan will help fund construction of the facility that will produce an estimated 6 GWh of battery cell storage capacity annually, which could power more than 28,000 EVs a year.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based KORE said the 1.3-million square facility, which began construction last year, will house multiple production ‎lines to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage systems in the United States, producing nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium-ion iron phosphate (LFP). It will employ 1,250 people when operating at capacity.

Commercial production is set to begin in late 2024 or early 2025.

"We are focused on building a facility where American workers will build the battery cells that power our energy and mobility future," said Lindsay Gorrill, founder and CEO of KORE. "Domestic manufacturing will unlock the benefits of clean energy investments for U.S. workers across the supply chain."

This is the seventh conditional commitment loan announced through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program (ATVM) within the past year. The program supports projects that can produce EVs, qualifying components and materials that improve vehicle fuel economy.

In February DOE made a conditional commitment to Redwood Materials for a $2 billion low-cost government loan to help build out a $3.5 billion recycling and re-manufacturing complex in Nevada for battery materials.

DOE last year announced that it would loan $2.5 billion to Ultium Cells, a joint venture between General Motors Co (GM.N) and LG Energy Solution (373220.KS), to help finance construction of new U.S. battery cell manufacturing facilities.

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