(Chris Woodward) – A Nevada business has received a conditional loan commitment of $2 billion from the Department of Energy to expand its battery recycling facility.
Carson City-based Redwood Materials takes batteries from mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic waste and remanufactures them into the components for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Approximately 3,500 construction jobs are expected for McCarran’s Redwood Materials expansion project. One thousand six hundred full-time jobs will be created for areas including labor, technical staff, and management.
“Redwood will draw upon this milestone-based financing in tranches that support our phased construction and allows us to unlock funding as we accelerate the construction and expansion of our first battery materials campus,” said Redwood Materials on its website.
While he said in the State of the Union that the U.S. would need oil and gas for the next 10 years, President Biden has been pushing for EVs and the domestic manufacturing of components needed for EVs and batteries.
“By lowering the cost of the critical materials necessary to produce lithium-ion batteries using recycled materials, electric vehicles have the potential to become more accessible and affordable to consumers,” said the Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office in a press release. “The circular supply chain supported by this project is an example of how the U.S. EV industry can support sustainable, long-term lithium-ion battery production.”
According to the Department of Energy, materials for the construction of the Redwood facility will involve unionized, minority and or woman-owned business enterprises.
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by former Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel.
By
Chris Woodward | The Center Square
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