Trump DOE confirms it’s canceling over $700M in manufacturing grants

The energy department has been looking at this for the past few weeks Canceling contracts worth billions of dollars. Now, the federal agency has confirmed it is dropping $720 million worth of manufacturing awards.

The cuts affect companies that make battery materials, recycle lithium-ion batteries and make super-insulating windows.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is combing through deals made during the Biden administration. The DOE claimed the projects “missed milestones” and “did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs,” spokesman Ben Dietderich said. to say E&E News.

All of the money for the grant was approved by Congress as part of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation that passed in 2021. The bulk of the money was paid in 2023 and 2024; Previously, the Trump administration used donations made between Election Day and Inauguration Day As justification for cancellation of award.

Three startups are on the list and all three were selected for grants ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Ascend Elements is refining a recycling technology that can turn manufacturing waste and end-of-life batteries into the materials needed to make lithium-ion batteries domestically. In October 2022, the company was paid $316 million for a $1 billion facility in Kentucky.

Already, $206 million has been disbursed to Ascend Elements, according to federal government records. The company said it is moving forward with its plans to use other sources of funding to cover any shortfall.

Anovion was awarded $117 million to reinvent a technology for making synthetic graphite for lithium-ion battery anodes. Chinese suppliers control 75% of the synthetic graphite supply chain and produce 97% of all synthetic graphite anodes, According to Benchmark mineral intelligence. According to a federal database, the startup’s plant will be built in Alabama and only $13.8 million has been disbursed to date.

Another startup, LuxWall, makes windows that insulate buildings as well as solid walls, a breakthrough that could reduce energy use and lower people’s utility bills. The DOE awarded the company $31.7 million to build a factory on the site of an old coal plant near Detroit. The award was granted in November 2023, although only $1 million was sent to the company, according to government records. Luxwall commissioned the first phase of its factory in August 2024.

TechCrunch previously reported on the Energy Department’s efforts to repeal it this And other contract

The grant was intended, in part, to launch startups “Death Valley” That’s what many promising companies can claim as they transition from technology development to commercial deployment. First-of-its-kind factories and facilities are not easy for startups to finance, and such government grants encourage private investors to contribute capital. Once operational, they can serve as a template for future factories, strengthening the country’s manufacturing base.