The US firm Ascend Parts, which specialises in sustainable battery supplies, stories a serious order price as much as $5 billion. The order is price round $1 billion and can deliveries are anticipated to begin on the finish of the following yr.
It’s a multi-year contract to provide cathode precursor supplies (excessive nickel NMC) for battery manufacturing to an unnamed main US firm, initially price round US$1 billion, beginning within the fourth quarter of 2024. Below the phrases of the settlement, the shopper has the choice to increase the contract to a bigger amount price as much as US$5 billion.
Ascend Parts is constructing a manufacturing unit in Kentucky to supply sustainable battery supplies. In accordance with the present plan, this could have the ability to produce sufficient cathode materials and precursors for as much as 250,000 electrical automobile batteries per yr after the deliberate completion on the finish of 2023.
Within the meantime, nonetheless, Ascend Parts cites an output thrice as excessive for as much as 750,000 electrical automobile batteries. In October 2022, the US Division of Power awarded Ascend Parts two grants totalling $480 million to speed up the development of the Kentucky plant. In March 2023, Ascend Parts additionally opened its first commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling plant within the state of Georgia.
“Practically 100% of the world’s pCAM is produced in Asia,” mentioned Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Parts. “There is no such thing as a cause we are able to’t manufacture vital battery supplies like this in the US. In truth, we have to manufacture our personal battery supplies to safe the provision chain in North America, cut back carbon emissions and guarantee our vitality independence.”
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