PUREgraphite Awarded US$5.57M from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for New Technology Development
US$5.57M Award from the U.S. Department of Energy
Brisbane, Jan 21, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - NOVONIX Limited (
ASX:NVX) (GC3:FRA) (NVNXF:OTCMKTS) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned, U.S.-based subsidiary, PUREgraphite, has been selected to receive a US$5,577,738 grant under the Advanced Manufacturing Office FY20 Critical Minerals FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement): Next-Generation Technologies and Field Validation (DEFOA-0002322).
This U.S. Department of Energy FOA specifically highlighted processing of battery critical minerals including synthetic graphite. The submission from PUREgraphite, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the only graphite-based project to be funded under this FOA.
The full list of recipients can be found on the Department of Energy's website:
https://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/W8JTF603
Novonix Chief Executive Dr. Chris Burns said: "We are excited to receive this show of support from the U.S. Government and to be working with Harper International and Phillips 66 on this project. This award demonstrates the commitment by the Government to support the establishment of a domestic supply of high-performance battery materials. It also highlights the expertise, progress, partners and technology we have assembled at PUREgraphite".
"The new furnace technology to be developed under this award will be industry leading and state of the art in energy efficiency, environmental impact, and capital cost. This is all part of our roadmap for continued innovation to make the highest performance material at globally competitive costs, all based in the United States", Dr. Burns said.
The project, entitled "High Efficiency Continuous Graphitization Furnace Technology for Lithium- Ion Battery Synthetic Graphite Material", will focus on development of proprietary furnace technology under the previously announced strategic alliance with Harper1. The award is a multi-year project that spans engineering, construction, and installation of new processing equipment at the PUREgraphite plant. The total project cost will be US$11,503,213 including PUREgraphite's contribution of US$5,925,475 which will be funded from existing reserves.
Harper International Vice President, Paul Elwell, said: "We are delighted by the selection of this innovation project by the U.S. Department of Energy. This decision highlights the significance of our close collaboration with the Lithium-Ion battery material specialists at PUREgraphite as we develop and validate next-generation thermal process technologies to address the nation's critical supply chain needs."
Novonix operates the PUREgraphite anode material plant, which is ramping up capacity to 2,000 tons/year of synthetic graphite. Included in this increased output will be the supply of an initial 500 tons to Samsung SDI, one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery makers for EVs.
As the only US supplier of synthetic graphite to tier-one EV battery producers, Novonix also has a non-binding agreement with Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of Japan) to assess production materials from this plant.
Also announced on Monday of this week was the appointment of Professor Jeff Dahn as the Company's Chief Scientific Adviser, commencing on 1 July 2021. Professor Dahn is currently the NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair at Dalhousie University.
About NOVONIX Limited
NOVONIX Limited (ASX:NVX) (FRA:GC3) (OTCMKTS:NVNXF) is an integrated developer and supplier of high-performance materials, equipment and services for the global lithium-ion battery industry with operations in the USA and Canada and sales in more than 14 countries. NOVONIX's mission is to support the global deployment of lithium-ion battery technologies for a cleaner energy future.
| ||
|
