Tesla’s main graphite source in the United States, Syrah Resources, is planning to expand its facilities in Vidalia, Louisiana with help from the Biden Administration.
The US Department of Energy offered a conditional commitment for a $107 million loan to the company.
Syrah will use the loan to expand the company’s plant in Louisiana, which produces Active Anode Material (AAM). In addition, the expansion will help Syrah reach an AAM production capacity of 11.25 kilo-tonnes per annum.
By 2040, the company hopes to produce enough AAM to support 2.5 million EVs.
Earlier this year, Syrah Resources signed a deal with Tesla to provide 80 per cent of the output of the Vidalia plant to the automaker. The deal will help reduce Tesla’s resilience on graphite from Chinese sources.
Syrah Resources imports graphite concentrate from Balama, Mozambique. Then, the company purifies the graphite and produces and heat-treats the product to create AAM.
The Department of Energy loan was issued from the Loan Program Office’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program. It is the first such loan in more than a decade. Previously the ATVM program provided both Tesla and Ford loans.
The financial close of the loan should be in June 2022, and the first advance will happen in September 2022.
Syrah confirmed the commitment in a press release and a tweet.
A non-binding term sheet has been finalised with the US Department of Energy for a US$107 million loan to fund the initial expansion of the Vidalia AAM facility to 11.25ktpa AAM production capacity: https://t.co/XC3cDEAYWh $SYR #graphite pic.twitter.com/exSgpyIzHn
— Syrah Resources (@SyrahResources) April 19, 2022
