The idea may be able to find some traction on both sides of the aisle in Congress and in Europe, which is also seeking to wean itself off Chinese minerals.

In its bipartisan policy report last year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said the U.S. is “dangerously dependent” on Chinese minerals and recommended creating a national mineral strategic reserve. That would go a step further than a backstop by physically purchasing and selling the minerals to stabilize prices, as the U.S. does with oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The committee has convened several workshops with companies to discuss the issue this summer.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency also announced plans in February for a critical minerals security program, similar to a program it operates for oil that requires member countries to stockpile at least 90 days’ supply to stabilize prices in the event of a market disruption.

Still, some industry watchers remain skeptical about whether a government backstop is the right strategy to support the industry.

Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Center for Critical Minerals Strategy at the think tank SAFE, said she has reservations about the government “getting their hands into commodity market pricing, which is very cyclical and complex.”

“Policies need to be carefully calibrated to the specific commodity price dynamics, potentially peter off after projects reach economies of scale in production, and [be] coupled with other government support, all so taxpayers don’t end up supporting projects — especially unviable ones — indefinitely,” Hunter said in an email.

Alex Fitzsimmons, head of government affairs at Sila Nanotechnologies — which is building a plant in Washington state to produce silicon anode material for EV batteries — said a government backstop should be “on the table as part of a suite of market signals,” but that companies also need to improve their products to stay competitive.

“Especially in this funding environment, companies have to find ways to separate themselves from a technology standpoint and a performance standpoint if they’re expecting to have customers pay a premium,” Fitzsimmons said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/biden-minerals-price-support-china-00176777

Dette blir som en bombe for det grønne markedet i REC og USA.



Biden administration weighs price support for US critical minerals amid Chinese pressure
The effort comes in response to delays and cancellations of many U.S. minerals processing projects.

The Biden administration is considering using federal dollars to prop up U.S. critical minerals projects being hammered by an influx of cheaper Chinese materials, an Energy Department official familiar with the potential move told POLITICO.

Under the policy, the department would set a price floor and agree to pay the difference when market prices fall below that threshold for critical minerals produced by certain U.S. projects. The effort comes in response to delays and cancellations of many U.S. minerals processing projects, including those that were set to receive a collective $1 billion in grants from the Biden administration.

Such a federal backstop would help meet a major goal of the Biden administration’s climate and manufacturing agenda — boosting the domestic production of minerals for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, a global supply chain that China now dominates. It would add to a growing trend of bipartisan support for government intervention in the economy, including former President Donald Trump’s call for widespread tariffs and Vice President Kamala Harris’ push for tougher penalties on price gouging.
The official, who works in the department’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office, was granted anonymity to discuss a policy that is still under consideration.

Chinese oversupply has crashed the price of lithium, nickel and other minerals key to the clean energy transition, making it harder for owners of U.S. minerals projects to secure financing despite grants and other support they’re receiving from President Joe Biden’s administration. Those struggles have led some in the industry and the administration to believe the government must do more than provide an initial capital investment.

The goal of the policy under consideration would be to help reassure investors and customers that domestic suppliers can overcome China’s efforts to maintain its stranglehold on the critical minerals industry.

It’s unclear how much the policy would cost. The details are still being discussed, but the backstop would likely be available for a limited time and apply only to projects that the department has determined are close to being competitive in pricing but are being challenged by foreign market manipulation.

“If we move forward on anything like this, the intent would be to give the nudge that is needed to set off the flywheel, versus create a permanent subsidy or cushion for a particular sector or company going forward,” the Energy Department official said.

Even if minerals prices stay high enough that the government never needs to disburse the funds, the promise to do so can help projects secure purchase agreements from customers that are crucial to financing their construction.

The official said most of what the MESC office has done revolves around investing in the construction side. “But it feels warranted, given what we’re hearing from the market, to think through, are there more creative ways where we can support projects so that they can … have the financial certainty to actually scale up?” the official said.

Companies and industry groups have launched a quiet push for a backstop in recent months, though some in the sector remain skeptical of the government wading into complex commodities markets. There’s also the question of whether DOE can set up — and fund — such an effort without explicit authorization from Congress, especially after the Supreme Court limited federal agencies’ discretion earlier this year by overturning a decades-old legal doctrine.

The DOE official said the agency is looking at what it can do within its existing authorities, which could include repurposing some grant funding intended for minerals projects, such as leftover funds from struggling projects that dropped out of grant negotiations.

The industry laid out its predicament to DOE in response to a request for information that the MESC office published this spring, seeking feedback on the dynamics of the critical minerals market. Companies expressed “strong support” for the department to implement “demand-side tools,” such as a price floor or contract for differences, to address the market concerns, according to a summary of the responses the agency released on Friday.

To secure financing, minerals project owners typically need to sign agreements with potential buyers such as automakers or battery cell manufacturers that show they will generate enough revenue to pay back investors.

But those customers have been loath to sign long-term purchase agreements with U.S. suppliers given the possibility that mineral prices will keep falling, and the fact that American-made minerals are more expensive than Chinese ones to begin with, companies say. One estimate last year put the price of North American graphite at more than double that of imported material, for example.


“You can’t have the facility built or the money to buy the equipment without having commitments from customers because you can’t get the financing without it,” said Chip Dunn, chair of Anovion Technologies, which is developing a $1 billion synthetic graphite plant in Georgia. “This is where the government needs to play a role.”

U.S. producers and government officials have accused China of subsidizing its producers to flood the global market with cheap minerals produced with lower social and environmental standards. A top State Department official, Jose Fernandez, told POLITICO this month that China is engaged in “predatory pricing” to frustrate U.S. efforts to develop its own high-standard sources of minerals.

American projects also face significantly longer timelines to get to market due to permitting delays. And some U.S. minerals suppliers argue that the Biden administration’s rules implementing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for electric vehicles and clean energy manufacturing have left too much leeway for upstream customers to continue purchasing minerals from China.

The Biden administration has already spent billions trying to kick-start a domestic critical minerals industry, particularly in the processing sector that is overwhelmingly dominated by Beijing.

In late 2022, when minerals prices were near their peak, DOE selected 21 processing and recycling projects to receive a collective $2.8 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law. But in 2023, as the projects were negotiating terms of the grants, the price of lithium fell by 75 percent, and the price of cobalt, nickel and graphite each dropped by between 30 and 45 percent, according to the International Energy Agency.


A third of the projects, which were set to receive a collective $1 billion, failed to make it through the negotiations to receive the awards, according to the Energy Department’s website.

The projects faced a “perfect storm” of pricing pressures, said Ben Steinberg, who represents several of the grant recipients as executive vice president at Venn Strategies and spokesperson for the Battery Materials and Technology Coalition.

“High interest rates, inflationary pressures and oversupply of minerals from China put a lot of additional burden on these companies, who have the monumental task of raising or finding private capital for three quarters of these investments,” Steinberg said.

Several of the companies in the grant round have instead sought loans from DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which has more than $200 billion in estimated loan authority and can provide a greater share of a project’s financing. That office announced in May that critical minerals mining and extraction projects are now eligible for loans, and it also indicated to companies in a memo and webinar that month that it may allow projects to receive both a grant and a loan on a “project specific” basis.

But some companies say the Energy Department needs to go beyond supporting capital construction by implementing a backstop mechanism, which would guarantee that specific producers can receive a minimum price for their minerals even if market prices slip.

“Offtake backstops help derisk project development and enable developers to access project financing,” the think tank Federation of American Scientists, which researches science-based policy solutions, wrote in a recent report calling on DOE to create such a mechanism.

Jigar Shahs:

By 2026, we are predicting that 80% of all of the #solar modules installed in the USA will come from manufacturing in the United States.

Our vision for a healthy, prosperous America is that we lead the world in manufacturing the cutting-edge technologies in clean energy, #ElectricVehicles, computer #chips and all the technologies that make our lives better -- that we invented here in the United States. We can’t win with a defensive mentality that solely relies on tariffs but does nothing to incentivize companies to invest in the United States.

The #InflationReductionAct has given entrepreneurs and investors the confidence to invest in ourselves and to place a bet on the American worker, companies are investing in new factories and clean energy in record amounts -- over 850 already announced across the country. We aren’t going back to the failed polices that licensed all of our innovation to be manufactured overseas.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jigarshahdc_solar-electricvehicles-chips-activity-7237096114347204608-c2hH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Noen som kjenner til dette batteri selskapet?
Merk til siste avsnitt?

A breakthrough in silicon-anode technology for Li-ion batteries

Paraclete Energy, a silicon-anode materials company,
announced the launch of SILO Silicon, a revolutionary silicon-anode material that will transform the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery market, particularly the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector.

This innovative technology offers unprecedented energy density and cost efficiency, enabling longer range, faster charging, and more affordable EVs.

SILO Silicon represents a significant advance in battery technology. Its unique polymer matrix architecture enables industry-leading silicon concentration, delivering up to 300% of the energy density of traditional graphite anodes and outperforming competing silicon-anode technologies by over 200%. This breakthrough results in significantly increased battery capacity, allowing EVs to travel significantly longer distances on a single charge.

“SILO Silicon is a game-changer for the electric vehicle industry,” said Jeff Norris, CEO of Paraclete Energy. “This technology directly addresses the critical needs of the market, offering longer range, faster charging and lower costs – all essential factors in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles.”

Paraclete Energy specializes in developing high-performance silicon-anode materials for EVs and other Li-ion battery applications. Paraclete Energy’s polymer matrix technology offers breakthrough performance and cost advantages over competing silicon-anode technologies based on carbon architectures. The company is committed to providing innovative solutions that advance the transition to sustainable energy and transportation. Paraclete Energy is shipping SILO Silicon in the fourth quarter of 2024, years ahead of projected competitor projects.

https://www.evengineeringonline.com/a-breakthrough-in-silicon-anode-technology-for-li-ion-batteries/

But those customers have been loath to sign long-term purchase agreements with U.S. suppliers given the possibility that mineral prices will keep falling, and the fact that American-made minerals are more expensive than Chinese ones to begin with, companies say. One estimate last year put the price of North American graphite at more than double that of imported material, for example.

“You can’t have the facility built or the money to buy the equipment without having commitments from customers because you can’t get the financing without it,” said Chip Dunn, chair of Anovion Technologies, which is developing a $1 billion synthetic graphite plant in Georgia. “This is where the government needs to play a role.”

U.S. producers and government officials have accused China of subsidizing its producers to flood the global market with cheap minerals produced with lower social and environmental standards. A top State Department official, Jose Fernandez, told POLITICO this month that China is engaged in “predatory pricing” to frustrate U.S. efforts to develop its own high-standard sources of minerals.

American projects also face significantly longer timelines to get to market due to permitting delays. And some U.S. minerals suppliers argue that the Biden administration’s rules implementing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for electric vehicles and clean energy manufacturing have left too much leeway for upstream customers to continue purchasing minerals from China.

The Biden administration has already spent billions trying to kick-start a domestic critical minerals industry, particularly in the processing sector that is overwhelmingly dominated by Beijing.

In late 2022, when minerals prices were near their peak, DOE selected 21 processing and recycling projects to receive a collective $2.8 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law. But in 2023, as the projects were negotiating terms of the grants, the price of lithium fell by 75 percent, and the price of cobalt, nickel and graphite each dropped by between 30 and 45 percent, according to the International Energy Agency.

A third of the projects, which were set to receive a collective $1 billion, failed to make it through the negotiations to receive the awards, according to the Energy Department’s website.

The projects faced a “perfect storm” of pricing pressures, said Ben Steinberg, who represents several of the grant recipients as executive vice president at Venn Strategies and spokesperson for the Battery Materials and Technology Coalition.

“High interest rates, inflationary pressures and oversupply of minerals from China put a lot of additional burden on these companies, who have the monumental task of raising or finding private capital for three quarters of these investments,” Steinberg said.

Several of the companies in the grant round have instead sought loans from DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which has more than $200 billion in estimated loan authority and can provide a greater share of a project’s financing. That office announced in May that critical minerals mining and extraction projects are now eligible for loans, and it also indicated to companies in a memo and webinar that month that it may allow projects to receive both a grant and a loan on a “project specific” basis.

But some companies say the Energy Department needs to go beyond supporting capital construction by implementing a backstop mechanism, which would guarantee that specific producers can receive a minimum price for their minerals even if market prices slip.

Offtake backstops help derisk project development and enable developers to access project financing,” the think tank Federation of American Scientists, which researches science-based policy solutions, wrote in a recent report calling on DOE to create such a mechanism.

The idea may be able to find some traction on both sides of the aisle in Congress and in Europe, which is also seeking to wean itself off Chinese minerals.

In its bipartisan policy report last year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said the U.S. is “dangerously dependent” on Chinese minerals and recommended creating a national mineral strategic reserve. That would go a step further than a backstop by physically purchasing and selling the minerals to stabilize prices, as the U.S. does with oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The committee has convened several workshops with companies to discuss the issue this summer.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency also announced plans in February for a critical minerals security program, similar to a program it operates for oil that requires member countries to stockpile at least 90 days’ supply to stabilize prices in the event of a market disruption.

Still, some industry watchers remain skeptical about whether a government backstop is the right strategy to support the industry..

Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Center for Critical Minerals Strategy at the think tank SAFE, said she has reservations about the government “getting their hands into commodity market pricing, which is very cyclical and complex.”

Policies need to be carefully calibrated to the specific commodity price dynamics, potentially peter off after projects reach economies of scale in production, and [be] coupled with other government support, all so taxpayers don’t end up supporting projects — especially unviable ones — indefinitely,” Hunter said in an email.

Alex Fitzsimmons, head of government affairs at Sila Nanotechnologies — which is building a plant in Washington state to produce silicon anode material for EV batteries — said a government backstop should be “on the table as part of a suite of market signals,” but that companies also need to improve their products to stay competitive.

“Especially in this funding environment, companies have to find ways to separate themselves from a technology standpoint and a performance standpoint if they’re expecting to have customers pay a premium,” Fitzsimmons said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/biden-minerals-price-support-china-00176777

Som nevnt hele tiden, REC kommer til å motta statlige støtte og dette snarest.

The Biden administration is considering using federal dollars to prop up U.S. critical minerals projects being hammered by an influx of cheaper Chinese materials, an Energy Department official familiar with the potential move told POLITICO.

Under the policy, the department would set a price floor and agree to pay the difference when market prices fall below that threshold for critical minerals produced by certain U.S. projects. The effort comes in response to delays and cancellations of many U.S. minerals processing projects, including those that were set to receive a collective $1 billion in grants from the Biden administration.

Such a federal backstop would help meet a major goal of the Biden administration’s climate and manufacturing agenda — boosting the domestic production of minerals for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, a global supply chain that China now dominates. It would add to a growing trend of bipartisan support for government intervention in the economy, including former President Donald Trump’s call for widespread tariffs and Vice President Kamala Harris’ push for tougher penalties on price gouging.
The official, who works in the department’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office, was granted anonymity to discuss a policy that is still under consideration.

Chinese oversupply has crashed the price of lithium, nickel and other minerals key to the clean energy transition, making it harder for owners of U.S. minerals projects to secure financing despite grants and other support they’re receiving from President Joe Biden’s administration. Those struggles have led some in the industry and the administration to believe the government must do more than provide an initial capital investment.

The goal of the policy under consideration would be to help reassure investors and customers that domestic suppliers can overcome China’s efforts to maintain its stranglehold on the critical minerals industry.

It’s unclear how much the policy would cost. The details are still being discussed, but the backstop would likely be available for a limited time and apply only to projects that the department has determined are close to being competitive in pricing but are being challenged by foreign market manipulation.

“If we move forward on anything like this, the intent would be to give the nudge that is needed to set off the flywheel, versus create a permanent subsidy or cushion for a particular sector or company going forward,” the Energy Department official said.

Even if minerals prices stay high enough that the government never needs to disburse the funds, the promise to do so can help projects secure purchase agreements from customers that are crucial to financing their construction.

The official said most of what the MESC office has done revolves around investing in the construction side. “But it feels warranted, given what we’re hearing from the market, to think through, are there more creative ways where we can support projects so that they can … have the financial certainty to actually scale up?” the official said.

Companies and industry groups have launched a quiet push for a backstop in recent months, though some in the sector remain skeptical of the government wading into complex commodities markets. There’s also the question of whether DOE can set up — and fund — such an effort without explicit authorization from Congress, especially after the Supreme Court limited federal agencies’ discretion earlier this year by overturning a decades-old legal doctrine.

The DOE official said the agency is looking at what it can do within its existing authorities, which could include repurposing some grant funding intended for minerals projects, such as leftover funds from struggling projects that dropped out of grant negotiations.

The industry laid out its predicament to DOE in response to a request for information that the MESC office published this spring, seeking feedback on the dynamics of the critical minerals market. Companies expressed “strong support” for the department to implement “demand-side tools,” such as a price floor or contract for differences, to address the market concerns, according to a summary of the responses the agency released on Friday.

To secure financing, minerals project owners typically need to sign agreements with potential buyers such as automakers or battery cell manufacturers that show they will generate enough revenue to pay back investors….

Har dessverre ikke tilgang til artikkelen. Noen som har?
China is swimming in battery-making capacity; Amprius Technologies, Inc. is strapped for cash to build a silicon battery-making gigafactory. In the resulting win-win deal, Amprius gets its batteries and saves $90m in capex; and China sops up some excess production capacity. The Electric. https://lnkd.in/e_r92-QW

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steve-levine-1901926_the-electric-a-us-silicon-battery-startup-activity-7234889136938139648-INkv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

First, OneD secured the ability to produce at EV-scale the silane gas precursor at an attractive cost. The costs are now well documented, and the silane plants can be co-located next to the SINANODE plants in Europe and in North America..

Fourth, the new SINANODE Pilot Manufacturing Plant is now enabling customers to come and verify the quality and cost metrics and to plan and support their qualification program with tens of tons of silicon-graphite anode materials in 2025 and 2026.

The commissioning of the SINANODE Pilot Production is an important step in proving the scalability of the manufacturing processes. Let’s explain why.

Many large companies in the EV battery supply chains have experienced difficulties with technologies developed by start-ups, including delays, un-even performance between production batches, excessive production costs, and incompatibilities with high-speed and high yield processes uses in EV cell factories.

OneD is following a step-by-step methodical approach to avoid these issues.

First, OneD secured the ability to produce at EV-scale the silane gas precursor at an attractive cost. The costs are now well documented, and the silane plants can be co-located next to the SINANODE plants in Europe and in North America.

Second, the OneD R&D team worked with partners to build EV cell prototypes in cylindrical 46XX format and in prismatic format and tested these cells in Palo Alto to obtain data on energy density and fast charging performance. The cells are also being provided to customers to validate the results in their own laboratories.

Third, EV-grade graphite from several suppliers have been processed using the SINANODE steps, to add nano-silicon to anode materials that are already produced in large quantities at low cost and that have been qualified with EV cell factories.

Fourth, the new SINANODE Pilot Manufacturing Plant is now enabling customers to come and verify the quality and cost metrics and to plan and support their qualification program with tens of tons of silicon-graphite anode materials in 2025 and 2026.

Finally, OneD has worked with established engineering firms to design large-scale productions plants for supporting tens of thousand tons of annual commercial production. Thanks to its foundational IP portfolio of more than 200 granted patents, OneD can license the IP rights and production technologies to industrial partners.

The negotiations are on-going with partners in Europe and North America and the locations will be announced later this year upon conclusion of the licensing agreements.

OneD is NOT an anode material supplier: OneD is the developer and the licensor of the SINANODE technologies, to help a few licensed companies that are in the EV battery supply chains optimize new products that are high performance and lower cost to manufacture at EV-scale. Simply put: better, faster, cheaper and lower risks…

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vincentpluvinage_oned-battery-sciences-announces-successful-activity-7233836815688855553-hwRZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

« REC Silicon, our key silane supplier, has inspected and approved our bulk Silane off-loading station, which is critical for safe operation.«

MOSES LAKE, Wash., Aug. 26, 2024

MOSES LAKE, Wash., Aug. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OneD Battery Sciences ("OneD"), a leading developer of silicon anode materials, today announced the successful completion and commissioning of its SINANODE pilot production line in Moses Lake, Washington. This milestone marks an important step forward in scaling up the production of OneD's SINANODE materials for the global battery market.

OneD Battery Sciences Logo (PRNewsfoto/OneD Battery Sciences)

Over the past 12 months, the SINANODE Pilot construction project progressed through initial hires and start of construction design, to breaking ground in October '23, equipment installation in April '24, and startup and commissioning in July '24. This was achieved through intense collaboration between the OneD team, general contractor, Dahlgren Industrial, and various partners, including Advanced Material Solutions, Meier Architecture • Engineering, Royal HaskoningDHV, Grant County PUD, and CVD Equipment Corporation. Additionally, REC Silicon, our key silane supplier, has inspected and approved our bulk Silane off-loading station, which is critical for safe operation.

"Today's milestone showcases the result of excellent teamwork between our Operations team and our general contractor and its many subcontractors, and the training and support provided by the OneD R&D team from our Palo Alto headquarters," said Jan-Marc Luchies, Chief Operating Officer at OneD.

Initial production runs of SINANODE have demonstrated matching performance with the anode materials produced at OneD's R&D facility in Palo Alto, California.

"We have spent many years perfecting the SINANODE process steps to ensure that these steps can be transferred and scaled-up efficiently at other locations. Our customers are demanding that the process parameters that are optimized in Palo Alto can be used to produce larger quantities with documented consistent quality to support the stringent qualification program required by EV cell makers," said Yimin Zhu, Co-Founder, and Chief Technology Officer.

"Customers also want to verify the exceptionally attractive cost structure of our SINANODE process in a manufacturing environment, when applied to several types of EV-grade graphite anode materials from several suppliers. We are now scheduling visits to our Moses Lake plant with customers and partners and collecting data to showcase the key metrics," added Vincent Pluvinage, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer.

More details of OneD Battery Sciences and SINANODE Pilot Program can be found here.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20240826sf90002/oned-battery-sciences-announces-successful-completion-and-commissioning-of-sinanode-pilot-manufacturing-plant

Here's a Robert Llewellyn short animation that sums up all this, EV vs ICEV perfectly.
https://youtu.be/1oVrIHcdxjA?si=tPVH4ggsUb6_EK11

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gray_sustainability-ev-solar-activity-7189625069600481281-LE8B?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Tror neppe Q-Sells som har ansatt flere tusen nye ansatter og alle venter i uviten om REC klarer å levere eller ei.
Personlig tror jeg det blir ingen mer utsettelse .

Cartersville-Bartow County Department of Economic Development:

Our existing industries are superheroes!

Congratulations to Toyo Tires and Qcells North America for being recognized at the Goodwill of North Georgia’s Power of Work Awards for their outstanding partnership with Cartersville’s Goodwill Career Center by helping thousands of job seekers find good- paying, local jobs and careers!

We are proud of these two Bartow- based employers for continuing to implement out-the-box solutions and creative best practices to support job and career growth and workforce development.

#EconomicDevelopment #WorkforceDevelopment #BartowCounty

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cartersville-bartow-county-department-of-economic-development_economicdevelopment-workforcedevelopment-ugcPost-7232481405027393536-flbK?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Og noen snakker om mer utsettelse av ML. Hvor skal kunden få råvarer i fra da om ikke REC kommer til å levere de? Derfor om kunden åpner i midten av SEP. Så blir ingen mer utsettelse.
Qcells North America
Ny:

Time flies when you're making history! ⚡☀️Nearly two years ago, we made a groundbreaking pledge to invest over $2.5 billion in building a complete solar supply chain right here in the USA—the largest investment in U.S. #solar history.

Today, we’re not only marking an anniversary; we’re celebrating the incredible progress we've made toward turning this vision into reality.

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (#IRA) and our amazing partners, our dream of a fully-integrated, silicon-based solar supply chain—from raw materials to finished panels—is transforming the U.S. clean energy market.

We believe in the power of local #manufacturing to drive a sustainable future, and this is just the beginning. 🇺🇸

We’re here for the long haul, committed to leading the charge in clean energy.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/qcells-northamerica_solar-ira-manufacturing-activity-7232827757036982272-o2uO?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

U.S. Department of Commerce

Today, the United States announced its list of critical sectors and key goods for potential cooperation under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement to strengthen supply chain resiliency. https://lnkd.in/eKQ9S7cG


Today, the United States announced its list of critical sectors and key goods for potential cooperation under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement to strengthen supply chain resiliency. This is a key milestone in implementing the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement to establish a framework for deeper collaboration to prevent, mitigate, and prepare for supply chain disruptions.

The IPEF Supply Chain Council, one of the three bodies established under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, lays the foundation for collaboration on supply chain opportunities and challenges across the Indo-Pacific. Through the work of the Council, Parties may collaborate to enhance the resilience, sustainability, and diversification of IPEF supply chains and explore opportunities to identify best practices and advance policies, measures, or actions positively impacting trade among the Parties in critical sectors or key goods.

Under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, each Party committed to developing a list of “critical sectors” and “key goods” for cooperation under the Agreement, to be shared through the Council. These lists are intended to be iterative and change as needed over time.

The International Trade Administration’s Industry & Analysis unit conducted in-house analyses of supply chains for sectors and goods for potential near-term U.S. opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region, supplemented by public input obtained via a Federal Register Notice (FRN) in June 2024 and interagency consultations.

Ultimately, sectors and goods notified by multiple Parties may be selected as the subject of Action Plans to identify shared vulnerabilities and opportunities to build resilience per Article 10 of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. The U.S. list below is specifically for use in the context of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement and is not a definitive list of U.S. priorities for the purposes of any other U.S. government supply chain efforts, nor a definitive list of what the IPEF Supply Chain Council will prioritize for discussion and action. The United States does not anticipate that all of the sectors and goods on this list will be selected for Action Plans, which will be decided by the Council. This list can be updated in the future as needed. The United States continues to seek input on sectors and goods for consideration under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, and the U.S. list of critical sectors and key goods can be updated in the future accordingly.

U.S. List of Critical Sectors and Key Goods for Potential Cooperation under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement

Agriculture

Chemicals

Consumer Goods

Critical Minerals and Mining

Energy/Environmental Industries, including:

Advanced batteries, including components and materials
Carbon management/capture technologies 
Electric grid equipment and technologies
Forgings and die castings
Hydropower, including components and materials
Hydrogen, including components and materials, as well as molecular derivatives
Permanent magnets
Nuclear energy, including components and materials
Solar energy systems, including panels, components, and materials
Water and wastewater treatment equipment and chemicals 
Wind turbines, including components and materials
Health Industries, including:

Medical devices
Personal protective equipment
Pharmaceuticals (particularly Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), generic drugs, and biological products) 
Vitamins and amino acids
Information and Communication Technology Products, including:

Audiovisual technology (particularly displays) 
Semiconductors (focused on assembly, testing, and packaging (ATP)) 
Telecommunication network equipment (particularly switches and routers) 
Electronics manufacturing services
Transportation and Logistics, including:

Aerospace and aerospace components, including aircraft equipment
Automotive parts (particularly electronic components, sensors, engines, transmissions, and electric motors used in vehicles)
Cargo handling equipment (particularly cranes) and the movement of shipping containers
Heavy/medium duty trucks, including parts and materials
Mass transit equipment, including transit buses, motor coaches, and rail passenger cars
Rail equipment 
Shipbuilding and repair (particularly shipbuilding materials, marine engines, propulsion systems, ship components, and repair equipment)
Transportation, logistics, and distribution services (particularly cold chain services and IT interoperability standards)

REC kommer til å ha en sentral rolle i USA etterhvert.

Overcoming The Great Wall: Building A 50GW Per Year Solar Supply Chain

As the global push for sustainable energy solutions intensifies, the U.S. is strategically positioning itself to reduce reliance on foreign solar components and build its domestic manufacturing capabilities. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 was a pivotal move to accelerate the deployment and development of solar component manufacturing in the U.S.

The IRA incentives spurred significant installation growth in the U.S. In 2023, photovoltaic (PV) installations grew by 51%, reaching 32 gigawatts (GW). This represents 53% of all new electrical energy generation additions in 2023. Installations are forecast to grow to over 50 GW per year in this decade, creating a major opportunity for domestic manufacturers.

The IRA offers attractive incentives for manufacturing polysilicon, wafers, solar cells and modules domestically, but to date, the demand has largely been served by imports. Solar module imports from Southeast Asia, predominantly from satellite operations of Chinese companies, reached a record 15 GW in Q4 2023. Solar panel imports were double the volume of panels installed in Q4 2023, resulting in inventory levels steadily growing to an estimated 30 to 40 GW in the U.S. The oversupply is a global phenomenon that has resulted in a global solar module price drop of approximately 50%.


1. Developing The Infrastructure Required For Advanced PV Manufacturing

Manufacturing polysilicon, solar wafers and cells requires significant power loads and water usage at a cost base that is globally competitive, in addition to a highly skilled workforce.

• Infrastructure investments: Lead times for new electrical substations can be as long as three years, which is prohibitive in an industry where the IRA incentives have a finite life. Manufacturers are requiring utilities to provide fast interconnection to the required power, a low-carbon footprint power source and competitive pricing. Polysilicon, cell and wafer manufacturing sites have significant water and water treatment requirements.

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2024/08/19/overcoming-the-great-wall-building-a-50gw-per-year-solar-supply-chain/

Vi må få se dette snart fra Group 14 og Sila.

ENOVIX
We are open! Our Malaysian Fab2 is now officially open and producing 100% Silicon Anode cells! Thanks to the whole team for all your efforts over the past year to make this a reality. If you want to take a peek into the clean rooms, check out the video linked below.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jddigiacomandrea_on-august-8-we-held-the-grand-opening-of-activity-7231656513872752641-TSD1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

I’m excited to announce that our new review paper, “A Comprehensive Review of Silicon Anodes for High-Energy Lithium-Ion Batteries: Challenges, Latest Developments, and Perspectives,” has been published in Elsevier’s Next Energy journal.

The review explores innovative approaches to overcome the challenges of using silicon as an anode materials. We also propose a shift towards using up to 100% silicon for anode development to streamline practical and commercial implementation in future lithium-ion batteries.

I want to extend my sincere thanks to all my co-authors: Anil Kumar Madikere Raghunatha Reddy, Xia Li, Sixu Deng, Jagjit Nanda for their invaluable contributions. Moreover, special thanks to my supervisor Professor Karim Zaghib for his exceptional mentorship at Concordia University. This work is a collaboration between Concordia University and Stanford University, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US Department of Energy).

I am also grateful for the financial support from Sarah Sajedi and Gary Vegh at ERA Environmental Management Solutions, and the support from InnovÉÉ (Quebec Government) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Silicon, the second most abundant element in Earth’s crust after oxygen, provides a notable advantage as an anode material, with a capacity of 4200 mAh/g—ten times higher than graphite. However, its 300% volume expansion continues to be a significant challenge.

In the future, the anode market is expected to be segmented among artificial graphite, natural graphite, and silicon, resulting in a rise in the use of graphite-silicon hybrid anodes in lithium-ion batteries for both portable devices and electric vehicles.

You can read the full paper here:
https://lnkd.in/e4fjdq5E

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ebrahim-feyzi-838b618b_im-excited-to-announce-that-our-new-review-activity-7231816621063901184-1hAE?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

The U.S. Department of Commerce, in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations, has announced a Supply Chain Summit to be held in Washington, D.C., on September 10, 2024.

The event will bring together leaders from industry, government, academia, and civil society to discuss proactive strategies for enhancing supply chain resilience and safeguarding national security. https://lnkd.in/gjdNrc4G
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/u-s-department-of-commerce_us-department-of-commerce-to-host-supply-activity-7231664292087873536-zR7I?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Dette blir gjort noe med snart tenker jeg. Og REC kommer til å posisjonere seg enda sterkere etter dette.

For the last 20 years, China has been working hard to secure a monopoly over this critical technology. While China has mostly succeeded, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created a set of incentives to get us back in the game. But, one critical piece may undermine our progress – we are letting China-headquartered companies locate final manufacturing in the United States, taking advantage of those same incentives while preserving their supply chain monopoly over the fundamental components.

Fortunately, with the introduction of the American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act earlier this month, senators are trying to close this work-around and put American manufacturing back on a level playing field.

Solar energy was invented in the United States, but right now nearly all of it, and about 99% of the fundamental component (the wafer), is being manufactured elsewhere, specifically, by Chinese-controlled companies. As our government works to invest in clean energy, we’re incentivizing companies to build back their operations in the U.S. so Americans can benefit from good-paying jobs, foster innovation from our world-leading R&D abilities, and establish energy independence in the critical technologies for our future.

Congress created a remarkably far-sighted system to reshore solar, batteries and wind technology. Policymakers not only created supply-side incentives in the advanced manufacturing production incentive that encourage manufacturers to build big factories quickly, but they paired them with demand-side incentives to give developers who use the products a bonus if they buy the products of those factories as they build solar and wind farms.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/solar-energy-manufacturers-for-america-sema-coalition_we-must-onshore-the-supply-chain-activity-7231749704693288960-jVlk?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Det er kun få mnd igjen av 2024 og da lenge før det må de ha en kontrakt med REC for råvarer.

Based in Woodinville, Group14 is building a silicon battery material factory in Moses Lake, which is expected to begin delivering material to customers by the end of 2024. The company has already hired over 170 employees in Moses Lake – over half of whom are local to the area – to support the factory’s daily operations. Luebbe says the availability of clean power is one of the primary reasons that led him and his co-founders to establish their fast-growing company in Washington.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sponsored/hydropower-fuels-cutting-edge-clean-energy-jobs-in-wa/

Flere og flere som satset på Silisium.
Og alle disse må ha råvaren fra USA ettervert. Det kommer snart til å bli konkurranse om hvem som får REC sine råvarer først. Og hvem betaler best.

This positions SILO Silicon as a highly competitive alternative to conventional graphite anodes commonly used in LFP batteries, which currently cost $53 per kWh. The cost reduction achieved with SILO Silicon is due to advanced material science and optimised manufacturing processes. According to the company, Paraclete’s Silo currently offers an energy density of over 520 Wh/kg, “significantly exceeding the capabilities of traditional graphite anodes.”

Paraclete launched its silicon anode material in the US just last month, lauding the material’s significantly improved energy density and performance. It was also announced that the product would be released in the final quarter of this year. The material has already been further improved, which is impressive considering that it hasn’t even hit the market yet.

“The recent decline in LFP battery prices underscores the industry’s commitment to affordability and sustainability,” said Jeff Norris, CEO of Paraclete Energy. “Our SILO Silicon anode technology serves as a strong proxy for cost-effective and high-performance energy storage, indicating not only significant cost reductions but also setting a new benchmark for the rapid adoption of electric vehicles and
renewable energy solutions.”
https://www.electrive.com/2024/08/19/paraclete-announces-battery-density-breakthrough/

The Global Silicon Anode Material market is anticipated to rise at a considerable rate during the forecast period, between 2024 and 2032. In 2023, the market is growing at a steady rate and with the rising adoption of strategies by key players, the market is expected to rise over the projected horizon.

Silicon has been recognized as a one of the most promising anode materials to replace currently used graphite in the anodes of Li-ion batteries due to its high gravimetric theoretical lithium storage capacity. Fast charging is feasible due to the high porosity inherent to silicon anode solutions, while costs can be reduced because of silicon materials’ high capacity, which results in lower material requirements. Silicon anodes are also considered safer because they help reduce the risk of lithium plating and dendrite formation, even though cycle and calendar life may need to be further demonstrated.

The global Silicon Anode Material market was valued at US$ 401 million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach US$ 3533.4 million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 41.9% during the forecast period 2024-2030.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/silicon-anode-material-market-size-growing-c9j0e?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via

Tydeligvis er ikke bare vi aksjonærer som sliter med Ledelsens kommunikasjon. Her er noen innlegg fra ansatte i selskapet om deres opplevelse og erfaring i selskapet.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2024

Pros of working at REC Silicon
Pay is good. I like my coworkers

Cons of working at REC Silicon
No one is really sure of the direction of the company. Management is subpar and communication is really lacking. There is no formal structure for employee evaluations and how pay is decided.

REC Silicon Benefits
The pay is good. We do have occasional company provided lunches.

What do you like best about REC Silicon's CEO and the leadership team?
I don't know much about them but I think they could do a better job at communicating the direction of the company and motivating people.

How would you improve REC Silicon's culture?
Communication of company goals, long and short-term goals. Provide a path for career growth, do just pay people to pay them cuz it sounds good. Unite the two plants so that there isn't this idea that Moses Lake is being supported by Butte. Look at attendance policies so that people are treated like humans and not numbers. Look at the HR person who controls everything and isn't very nice to people.

How did you prepare for the REC Silicon interview?
I researched the company and the job description.

How does your compensation at REC Silicon compare to the industry average?
Very good compared to other companies.,

What's the diversity at REC Silicon like?
I think there are extremes, some people in management don't speak very good English.

What brings you the most joy at REC Silicon?
my co-workers bring me the most joy.

Is this useful?

Et annet skriver..
Pros of working at REC Silicon
insurance is very good. my current schedule is good.

Cons of working at REC Silicon
lack of leadership in other depts, FBR needs a massive work to get up and going, yet nobody knows what's going on, the different shifts do not communicate or leave a tie in for the next shift.

REC Silicon Benefits
Training, and potential for growth .

What do you like best about REC Silicon's CEO and the leadership team?
nothing to report.

How would you improve REC Silicon's culture?
Communication between different departments.

How did you prepare for the REC Silicon interview?
I just came into it being me, and did nothing special to prepare..

How does your compensation at REC Silicon compare to the industry average?
Certain depts. need to address and revaluated for sure, as they are way below the area average for wages. Other wages are paying about average.

What's the diversity at REC Silicon like?
NA

What brings you the most joy at REC Silicon?
Potential for growth, my boss, and the freedom that my supervisor knows i will stay on task and not be micromanaged.

Dette skriver et annet…

Pros of working at REC Silicon
Enjoy smaller companies that allow diversity of opportunities and responsibilities. Individuals are given the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the company. Your influence can be as great as you want to make it.

Cons of working at REC Silicon
Internal advancement means that some of the management has limited experience in management and they seem to struggle with consistently leading the company and portraying confidence and true leadership.

REC Silicon Benefits
Pay is very competitive.

What do you like best about REC Silicon's CEO and the leadership team?
They are all very likable but only have minimal leadership experience.

How would you improve REC Silicon's culture?
Communication could be more open,, complete, and consistent.

How did you prepare for the REC Silicon interview?
Reviewing company history, goals, and markets. They reached out to me so primary preparation was mapping experience with company needs.

How does your compensation at REC Silicon compare to the industry average?
Compensation was originally above average for industry but is now just averag

What's the diversity at REC Silicon like?
Never had an issue with diverse demographics - company tries to hire diversely but local community tends to attract less diversity.

What brings you the most joy at REC Silicon?
Being able to help others and help teach them to improve their processes.

Denne er sterk!

Pros of working at REC Silicon
Benefits, pay and coworkers are the best around.

Cons of working at REC Silicon
Lack of direction, two many chiefs. Upper management is out of touch with how the plant actually runs and what resources are necessary.

REC Silicon Benefits
Just pay and benefits, no perks at REC.


Etter å ha lest endel av disse og det gir meg tydelig tegn ledelsen og selskapet tror å gi ansattene massevis av gaver, mat og høye lønn da er de fornøyde, men her har de fleste pekt på de samme problemene som vi kjenner til og de er alvorlige. Mangel på kommunikasjon med ansatter
Mangel på kommunikasjon mellom avdelinger
Ledelse som ikke forstår engelsk
Ledelse som ikke er flinke til å lede ansatter
Stort sett mange er enige at ledelsen sliter med retning.
Osv…

Dette er virkelig grusomme sannheter fra innsiden av REC Silicon om ledelsen og selskapet. Derfor bør alle aksjonærer som tilsaman eier dette selskapet vise misnøye om dette og kreve bytting av ledelse og ansette noen som kan lede selskapet i riktig retning.
Ikke rart at kursen har gått rett i bunn, det sitter folk der ute som får med seg slikt.

Eighteen Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to preserve the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) if their party takes control of the political reins in January. #MarketsPolicy #Policy #energytaxcredit
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pv-magazine-us_republicans-request-continuation-of-ira-post-january-activity-7227352138060898306-rN0H?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Strengthening America's PV solar supply chains, starting with the largest ingot & wafer plant ever built in the U.S.! (see: https://lnkd.in/gJGzMd-u) Today, LPO announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.45 billion to Qcells USA Corp.—a leading North American crystalline silicon solar manufacturer—to finance the first vertically integrated solar manufacturing facility in the U.S. to produce ingots, wafers, cells, and panels under one roof in over a decade.

The loan guarantee will support Qcells’ solar supply chain facility in Cartersville, Georgia, which will produce ingots, wafers, cells, and finished solar panels. The facility will be the largest ingot and wafer plant ever built in the U.S., helping to address gaps in the domestic solar manufacturing supply chain and reinforcing the United States’ status as a global clean energy leader. The Qcells facility will also make larger-format wafer sizes that lower costs and increase product performance to benefit consumers.

Once fully operational, the facility is expected to produce 3.3 GW of solar panels per year, enough to supply panels to half a million American households, reducing emissions from power generation by more than 5 million tons of CO2e per year, which will help the nation reach the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

In support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to deliver good-paying, high-quality job opportunities to communities across the country, this project is also expected to create approximately 1,200 construction jobs and, upon completion, will support 1,950 full-time operations jobs.

As with all conditional commitments that LPO offers, it's important to note that while this announcement demonstrates an intent to finance the project, the expected U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) financing will only be issued pending the satisfaction of certain conditions—including final legal, contractual, technical, and financial requirements—that the conditional commitment specifies.

LEARN MORE:

• What is a Conditional Commitment & How is it Different from a Loan or Loan Guarantee? https://lnkd.in/gkhfhYHZ
• More about the Biden-Harris Administration's "Investing in America" Agenda: WhiteHouse.gov/Invest
• Read about other LPO project announcements: https://lnkd.in/g23s_Uk4
• How LPO's Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program is financing innovative energy projects across sectors: https://lnkd.in/gN2jDVbw

#DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingCleanEnergySupplyChains #FinancingPVSolar #Onshoring #Reshoring #Title17 #InvestingInAmerica
#LPONews #ConditionalCommitment

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/doe-loan-programs-office_doelpo-financingamericanenergy-bridgetobankability-activity-7227290566466711552-Z4Yk?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Når kommer REC sin tur tro?

The Biden administration is offering Qcells as much as $1.45 billion in conditional financing to construct the biggest US plant producing silicon ingots and wafers, the building blocks of solar panels.

The conditional loan guarantee from the Energy Department will go to the company’s plant Cartersville, Georgia. The facility will also make cells and as much as 3.3 gigawatts of panels a year, the agency said in a statement Thursday.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-08/biden-offers-1-45-billion-in-financing-for-georgia-solar-plant?srnd=homepage-europe

Paraclete Energy Launches SILO Silicon™: A Breakthrough in Silicon Anode Technology for Li-Ion Batteries.

Paraclete Energy, a leading silicon anode materials company, today announced the launch of SILO Silicon™, a revolutionary silicon anode material that will transform the Li-ion battery market, particularly the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector. This innovative technology offers unprecedented energy density and cost efficiency, enabling longer range, faster charging and more affordable electric vehicles.

SILO Silicon™ represents a significant advance in battery technology. Its unique polymer matrix architecture enables industry-leading silicon concentration, delivering up to 300% the energy density of traditional graphite anodes and outperforming competing silicon anode technologies by over 200%. This breakthrough results in significantly increased battery capacity, allowing electric vehicles to travel significantly longer distances on a single charge.

batteries news advertise
Jeff Norris, CEO of Paraclete Energy, said:

SILO Silicon™ is a game-changer for the electric vehicle industry.

“This technology directly addresses the critical needs of the market, offering longer range, faster charging and lower costs – all essential factors in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles.”

Paraclete Energy specializes in developing high-performance silicon anode materials for electric vehicles and other lithium-ion battery applications. Paraclete Energy’s polymer matrix technology offers breakthrough performance and cost advantages over competing silicon anode technologies based on carbon architectures. The company is committed to providing innovative solutions that advance the transition to sustainable energy and transportation. Paraclete Energy is shipping SILO Silicon™ in the fourth quarter of 2024, years ahead of projected competitor projects.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/batteriesnews_paraclete-energy-launches-silo-silicon-activity-7224787589562568706-AlGB?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

price for polysilicon outside China was seen stable by all data providers this week, with InfoLink’s index still standing at its long-time level of US$21.50/kg.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bernreuter-research_polysilicon-price-futures-activity-7224688367727222784-b8u1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-07/draft-ea-2220-group14-tech-battery-2024-07.pdf

Merk dette: The proposed
project would enable the sourcing of critical battery materials from within the United States
and reduce the dependence on foreign material suppliers.

July 29, 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - National Energy Technology Laboratory
(NETL) invites comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for the
Group14 Technologies – Battery Active Materials Factory Project. The Draft EA can be
found on DOE’s NETL EA website at https://netl.doe.gov/node/6939.
The Draft EA has been prepared in accordance with the Council on Environmental
Quality’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations (40 CFR
Parts 1500-1508) and DOE’s NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR Part 1021). DOE
prepared the Draft EA to analyze the potential environmental, cultural, and social impacts
of partially funding the construction of Group14 Technologies’ commercial-scale facility
in Moses Lake, Washington to produce a lithium-ion battery anode material for the
growing electric vehicle market. The proposed project site includes construction of up to
six process module buildings for production of the anode material. Other supporting
buildings would include an administrative building, operations building, utility building,
solid waste storage building, and nitrogen plant. Installation of parking, stormwater
infiltration pond, wastewater conveyance, various utilities, and other associated facilities
would be constructed to support operations. Once operational, the six process modules
would be expected to produce 12,000 metric tons per year of anode material. The proposed
project would enable the sourcing of critical battery materials from within the United States
and reduce the dependence on foreign material suppliers. The proposed project would
create more than 254 full-time jobs that offer benefits such as healthcare. Group14 also
plans to offer community benefits to raise equity levels in the greater Moses Lake
community. Together, these efforts would help revitalize the workforce and economy of
the greater Moses Lake community for decades to come while significantly strengthening
the U.S. lithium-ion battery industry.

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-07/reader-ltr-draft-ea-2220-group14-tech-battery-2024-07.pdf

Absolutt viktig tema dette som har blitt tatt opp fra de ikke kinesiske selskaper. De presser Biden administrasjon for å kutte støtten til de kinesiske selskaper som utnytter IRA støtten. Med denne støtten har de ikke kinesiske selskaper ikke muligheten til å konkurrer med kinesiske selskaper i USA. Det er viktig at Biden administrasjonen kutter denne støtten til de kinesiske selskaper. Tiltaket skulle hjelpe landet å gjenoppbygge Amerikansk innenlandske produksjon, og slik at USA ikke blir avhengig av Kina. Men Kina klarer å lure seg inn og både tjener penger ved å utnytte systemet og samtidig ikke lar USA bli mindre avhengig av dem.

Store selskaper slik som Hanwha og flere andre har bedt regjeringen om p revurdere denne loven slik at de kinesiske selskaper som utnytter systemet ikke for fortsette.

Lite utdrag fra artikkelen:
Faktumet om saken er at selskaper med hovedkontor eller kontrollerte kinesiske selskapers evne til å dra nytte av denne bonusen, mens de fortsetter å dra nytte av deres fangede (og overflødige) waferproduksjon i utlandet, til skade for amerikanske produsenter, er i strid med intensjonen til IRA, både i bokstav og ånd.3
Kongressen hadde til hensikt at bonusen for innenlandsk innhold direkte skulle drive forbruket av innenlandsproduserte rene energiprodukter, og spesielt å tjene som en etterspørselsdriver for rene energikomponenter hvis produksjon ble incentivert av Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit.4 Erkjenner det grunnleggende formålet. av bonuskreditten for innenlandsk innhold er å drive amerikansk produksjon av ren energi og støtte gjenopprettingsarbeid, anbefaler SEMA på det sterkeste at finansdepartementet reviderer sin foreslåtte tabell over prosentverdier for produserte produktkomponenter (MPC) ved å anerkjenne den individuelle verdien som legges til ved produksjonen av kjernekomponentene som er oppført , gjelder også:
● Legge til visse kjerne-MPC-er, spesielt utelatt fra tabellen (f.eks. wafer);
● Fjerne ikke-strategiske MPC fra bordet;
● Standardisering av verdien for MPC i en enkelt kolonne/tabell for å lage en generalisert, forutsigbar
tilnærming som enkelt kan implementeres på tvers av alle prosjekttyper og som kan stole på
for å ta betydelige investeringsbeslutninger i produksjon; og
● Sikre at kostnadene er representative for amerikansk produksjon for kapital- og driftskostnader
oppnå formålet med loven.
Hvert av kjerneverdiøkende produksjonstrinn har sine egne kapitalinvesteringer, drift og lønnskostnader, med oppstrøms komponentproduksjon av solenergikvalitets polysilisium og wafer som står overfor den høyeste kapitalinvesteringsrisikoen og tilsvarende avkastning på investert kapital. For at gjeninnsatsen skal lykkes, er det avgjørende at deres relative bidrag til verdien av det ferdige produktet er
1 Det hvite hus. Faktaark: Biden-Harris Administration iverksetter tiltak for å styrke amerikansk solenergiproduksjon og beskytte produsenter og arbeidere mot Kinas urettferdige handelspraksis.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/620460b5a16553242f92f19f/t/669594b29013ab0c613fefe8/1721078962847/SEMA+Coalition+Comments+on+Domestic+Content_Docket+No.+IRS-2024-0023_7.15.24.pdf

"If we are to succeed, we need American manufacturers like Convalt to survive this onslaught of low prices, to build factories with capacities that allow us to compete against the largest global firms, with Chinese beneficial ownership," CEO Hari Achuthan said in May in testimony to the U.S. International Trade Commission, a government agency that is considering a request by Korea's Hanwha Qcells and other U.S. manufacturers to impose new tariffs on some solar imports.
Convalt's plant would make panels plus the cells, wafers and ingots that go into them, but progress stalled a year ago as global panel prices plunged 50% to levels below Convalt's cost of production, he said.
"Had we not had these low prices we should be up and running today," Achuthan said.
The Department of Energy told Reuters that developing a domestic solar supply chain would take time and that the U.S. must rely on foreign businesses for their expertise.
'COMMITTED TO BE HERE'

Chinese companies, by far the top suppliers of solar and electric-vehicle battery components imported to the U.S., now account for one-fifth of the solar factories announced since the U.S. adopted new climate subsidies, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie.
The United States has tried to ease its import addiction to Chinese solar products with tariffs, and has also banned goods linked to China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor. It is now considering new duties on components made in other Asian countries where Chinese manufacturers have set up.
Chinese companies building factories in the U.S. so far are mainly investing in module production, in which solar cells imported from Asia are assembled into panels.
Longi, the world's third-biggest solar producer, for example, is pumping out panels in Pataskala, Ohio through a joint venture with U.S. clean-energy developer Invenergy called Illuminate USA. The five-gigawatt plant is among the largest announced since passage of the IRA, and the company is also exploring the possibility of building a cell facility.
"Illuminate USA is an American company, majority owned by Invenergy, who owns both the facility and the land where over 1,000 Ohioans will produce more than nine million high-quality solar panels annually at full capacity later this year," Illuminate spokesman Eric Heis said in a statement.
Trina, the No. 4 global manufacturer, plans to start a five-GW panel factory in Texas this year, and is also planning a cell facility.
"We are committed to be here and we are spending a lot of time and money to make that a reality," said Mike Nelson, head of legal for Trina's North American business.
Trina said its U.S. subsidiary is a U.S.-registered company that sources the polysilicon it uses to produce its equipment from European and U.S. sources.
While Chinese producers face opposition from some other U.S. factory owners, panel-buying U.S. project developers interested in low-cost supply welcome them.
The American Clean Power Association, a clean-energy trade group, said the U.S. solar-manufacturing sector is attracting global and domestic investment. It said U.S.-headquartered companies make up most of the operating and planned panel production.
Top U.S. producers, Hanwha Qcells and Arizona-based First Solar (FSLR.O), opens new tab, are pushing for the U.S. to impose new tariffs on component and equipment imports from countries where their Chinese rivals have built factories to supply the U.S.
"We're just asking for legitimate U.S. manufacturers to have a chance to compete with these gigantic Chinese-owned companies," said Tim Brightbill, attorney for the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, the group seeking new tariffs.
The group's rivals argue that placing duties on some cell imports and not others is unfair and will stifle construction of U.S. factories.

The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here.
Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Rod Nickel

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/many-us-solar-factories-are-lagging-except-those-china-owns-2024-07-17/

Many US solar factories are lagging. Except those China owns

July 17 (Reuters) - Construction of U.S. solar-manufacturing plants by Chinese companies is surging, putting China in position to dominate the nascent industry, as other American factories struggle to compete despite federal subsidies.
Chinese companies will have at least 20 gigawatts' worth of annual solar panel production capacity on U.S. soil within the next year, enough to serve about half the U.S. market, according to a Reuters analysis of corporate statements, government documents, and interviews with eight companies and researchers.

The group includes seven companies backed by Chinese firms including Jinko Solar (JKS.N), opens new tab, Trina Solar (688599.SS), opens new tab, JA Solar (002459.SZ), opens new tab, Longi (601012.SS), opens new tab, Hounen, Runergy, and Boviet, according to the analysis.
The projected rapid increase in U.S. solar panel production by Chinese-owned companies has not previously been reported, and represents a worrying result for President Joe Biden's climate agenda. While his administration is keen for new investment that creates U.S. jobs in clean energy, his government is also desperate to prevent over-reliance on geopolitical rival China as the economy transitions from oil and gas to renewables.

Chinese-backed companies have distinct advantages over competitors in the U.S., such as heavily subsidized supply chains for raw polysilicon and unfinished solar modules, as well as low-cost government financing. Like non-Chinese companies, they also collect U.S. subsidies for clean energy manufacturing embedded in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Biden's signature climate law.
"You have a stacked deck here. It’s hard to imagine that anyone, particularly a greenfield manufacturer, can do it as quickly as a Chinese manufacturer," said Paula Mints, founder of solar industry research firm SPV Market Research, referring to new factories.

She and one other researcher added, however, that the Chinese investment would help the domestic solar manufacturing industry mature while creating jobs.
"They have a lot more experience building factories and setting up supply chains," said David Feldman, a solar market researcher with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Local and state officials in places where Chinese firms are setting up factories, including Texas, Arizona, Ohio and North Carolina, have welcomed the investments.

WE NEED AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS'

Non-Chinese manufacturers in the United States, by contrast, have found it hard to compete against a flood of cheap imports and are worried by China's outsized presence. As many as half of the announced U.S. factories may not materialize, Reuters reported last year.
U.S.-based Convalt, for example, is struggling to bring online 10 GW of U.S. capacity at a factory it started building in upstate New York in 2022.

Dette kan komme når som helst i USA og.
Legg godt merke til de siste 4-5 linjene.

Canada adds high-purity iron, phosphorous and silicon metal to critical minerals list
20 July 2024

Canada recently added an additional three minerals—high-purity iron, phosphorous and silicon metal—to its Critical Minerals List, bringing the total to 34.

Canada released its first Critical Minerals List in March 2021 with a commitment to review the minerals identified as critical every three years. The list guides federal policy and programs and signals government areas of priority to stakeholders. Public consultations took place with provincial and territorial governments, other government departments, industry, Indigenous groups and other interested or affected stakeholders.

An analysis was undertaken to review all minerals included in the 2021 Critical Minerals List and consider potential candidates for addition. These analyses resulted in the updated Critical Minerals List that retains all 31 minerals from the 2021 list and the additional three.

Silicon metal is essential to the manufacture of chips and semiconductors, used in almost any and everything electronic.

High-purity iron ore is essential to green steel and integral to decarbonization.

Phosphorus combined with potash is essential for food security through the production of fertilizers. Phosphorus can also be used in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries, another strategic opportunity in the EV value chain for Canada.

There is no global definition of critical minerals so, as part of the List’s review, an updated set of criteria has been created. To be deemed a “critical mineral” in Canada, a mineral must meet both of the following criteria:

the supply chain is threatened; and

there is a reasonable chance of the mineral being produced by Canada

as well as one of the following criteria:

essential to Canada’s economic or national security; or

required for the national transition to a sustainable low-carbon and digital economy; or

positions Canada as a sustainable and strategic partner within global supply chains.

Analysts at Benchmark noted that the expansion of the list with the three new minerals could support Canadaa’s bid to become a major ex-China battery materials supplier.

Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cathodes contain both battery-suitable purified phosphoric acid (PPA), made using mined phosphorus feedstock, and high-purity iron.

Silicon metal is also a feedstock for silicon-graphite battery anodes.

Projects in these minerals will now be eligible for various forms of government support, including a seven-year C$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) federal fund for new critical minerals infrastructure launched in November 2023.

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2024/07/20240720-canada.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys-PnzlsWhQ

Alt går REC sin vei i USA, bortsett fra tivoli børsen i Norge.

Trump kan skape store problemer for Kinas økonomi
Kinas økonomi kan svekkes hvis Trump blir valgt som president, tror Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs mener at Trumps planer om 60 prosent toll på kinesiske varer kan utgjøre en stor risiko for et stort fall i veksten for Kina, ifølge CNBC.

– Beslutningstakere må tenke på innenlandsk etterspørsel og fokusere på noe som er mer vedvarende og bærekraftig for vekstutsiktene, sier Shan til CNBC og fortsetter:
https://www.finansavisen.no/politikk/2024/07/18/8156362/trump-kan-skape-store-problemer-for-kinas-okonomi

index for polysilicon outside China remains at its long-time level of US$21.50/kg. 👌
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bernreuter-research_polysilicon-price-wafer-activity-7219614474691899393-sOYn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios