Chicago-headquartered NanoGraf has been awarded a $60-million grant from the US Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains to retrofit a manufacturing facility in Flint, Michigan to produce silicon anode battery materials.
The award was granted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) fund supporting new and expanded commercial-scale domestic battery manufacturing projects. The project may also be eligible to receive an additional grant from the Make It in Michigan Competitiveness Fund, administered through the Michigan Infrastructure Office.
NanoGraf will use the financing as well as its own capital to complete the production facility, which will produce 2,500 tons per year of silicon anode material—enough material to supply 1.5 million EVs.
The Flint factory will be NanoGraf’s third battery material production facility and increase its total manufacturing footprint to over 414,000 square feet. NanoGraf currently produces silicon anode material for the US military out of two Chicago-based manufacturing facilities. The company recently announced that it was supplying batteries to Thales Defense & Security for communications handsets used by soldiers in the field. NanoGraf’s headquarters, military-focused production facilities, and R&D operations will remain in Chicago.
“As a US-based and US-founded company, we’re committed to strengthening the domestic battery supply chain—and this factory is a big step forward,” said Francis Wang, CEO of NanoGraf. “Our expansion into Michigan will allow us to leap to larger scale production to meet national demands for high-performing EV batteries and consumer electronics.”
Source: NanoGraf
