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/

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

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

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

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

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/

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)

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

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

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

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

« 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

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

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

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….

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

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/

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

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.

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

The “American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act,” a new bill backed by a bipartisan Senate coalition, would ensure Chinese-owned or headquartered #solar companies do not have access to U.S. incentives while they receive massive market-distorting subsidies in China, including on many of the components they are building into end products in the United States. #SolarManufacturing #SolarIndustryNews #CleanEnergy

“Domestic production of these fundamental components, particularly wafers and polysilicon, is critical to building a robust U.S. solar supply chain and this legislation will help make that a reality.” - Michael Carr, Executive Director of #SEMA Coalition. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eHEGGktD
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/solar-energy-manufacturers-for-america-sema-coalition_sherrod-brown-wants-to-stop-chinese-companies-activity-7239648916504268801-S3Fn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=bNoPfY9F1ECTruvf&v=EbFRp7K1z2o&feature=youtu.be

U.S. increases and extends clean energy import tariffs on China

The U.S. Trade Representative decided that it will expand tariffs on solar components, batteries, semiconductors, steel, and EVs from China.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 RYAN KENNEDY

The U.S. Trade Representative ruled to maintain section 301 tariffs on goods shipped from China. The tariffs include 25% on batteries and steel, 50% tariffs of semiconductors, and a 100% tariff rate on Chinese EV imports. The agency said that many of the tariffs will take effect on September 27.

The Section 301 tariffs categorize semiconductors into two main groups, polysilicon for solar modules and silicon wafers, often used in computing.

The reiteration of tariffs reflects the Biden Administration’s “tough, targeted” approach to tariffs described to Reuters by Lael Brainard, a top White House economic adviser.

“Electrical manufacturers are meeting growing demand for clean energy goods by reshoring, new-shoring, near-shoring, and friend-shoring critical supply chains. NEMA members have invested more than $12 billion to expand manufacturing of clean energy and advanced technology goods in the United States across the grid, industrial, built environment, and mobility sectors.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/09/13/u-s-increases-and-extends-clean-energy-import-tariffs-on-china/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=linkedin

Silicon negative electrode battery is a lithium-ion battery with silicon material as the negative electrode. The relevant introduction is as follows:
💡1. Performance advantages
High energy density: The theoretical capacity of silicon can reach 4200mAh/g, far exceeding graphite (372mAh/g), and can store more electricity under the same weight. For example, the Xiaomi 15 Pro adopts a silicon negative electrode battery with a capacity of 6000mAh, achieving a balance between lightweight and high battery life, which can meet the endurance needs of electronic devices and new energy vehicles.
Good rate performance: It can meet the rate performance requirements of fast charging, and some mobile phone silicon negative electrode batteries support high-power flash charging and wireless charging.
💡2. Technical challenges
• Volume expansion: When the silicon negative electrode is charged and discharged (especially when reacting with lithium), the volume expansion reaches 300%, which damages the internal structure of the battery and affects its cycle life and safety. In practical applications, around 10% silicon carbon composite materials are used, and nanotechnology and other technologies are utilized to prevent overall expansion.
• Short cycle life: The natural graphite negative electrode has a cycle life of less than 1000 times, the artificial graphite has over 3000 times, and the silicon carbon negative electrode only has 300-500 times, mainly due to structural damage and performance degradation caused by the volume change of silicon.
• High cost: Graphite negative electrode costs about 150 yuan/100g, while silicon carbon negative electrode costs several hundred yuan/100g, which limits its large-scale application.
💡3. Application Fields
In the field of consumer electronics: Starting from 2021, mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei have been using silicon carbon anode technology in their flagship phones, such as Xiaomi 11 Pro, Huawei Mate Xs2, Honor Magic5 Pro and other mobile phone batteries.
In the field of new energy vehicles, domestic and foreign car companies are laying out their presence one after another. The 21700 battery developed by Tesla and Panasonic incorporates silicon elements to enhance energy density; The Mercedes EQG uses Sila's silicon-based negative electrode battery, and Porsche has reached a supply agreement with Group14 Technologies.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joan-huang-2b4aa3193_siliconanodebattery-activity-7240629004058140672-BEd_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Dette er spesielt til FA!

Donald Trump surprised many by stating he’s a “big fan” of solar power
By
Zhou, Sabrina
09/11/2024

0

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met for the first time Tuesday in their first presidential debate of the 2024 election in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this debate, Trump said he’s a “big fan” of solar power.

Prior to this, Trump had never been very supportive of green energy, stating that global climate change was a “scam”.

https://www.solarbeglobal.com/donald-trump-surprised-many-by-stating-hes-a-big-fan-of-solar-power/

100 kunder altså! En kontrakt med REC må være rett rund hjørnet.

Group14 Technologies Delivers its Advanced Silicon Battery Material to Over 100 Customers Worldwide from an EV-Scale Factory

Group14 Technologies, the world’s largest global manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon battery materials, today announced that it is shipping its SCC55™ material, produced from an EV-scale joint venture (JV) factory based in Sangju, South Korea. Group14 has completed shipments to over 100 electric vehicle (EV) and consumer electronics (CE) battery manufacturing customers worldwide from the JV factory.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/battery-industry_group14-delivers-its-advanced-silicon-battery-activity-7241791373165662209-z6Rb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Novacium’s Silicon-Based Anode Batteries Achieve 3,734 mAh with 96% Capacity Retention after 200 Cycles, Surpassing Commercial Alternatives by 66%

HPQ Silicon Inc. , a technology company specializing in green engineering of silica and silicon-based materials, is pleased to update shareholders on the latest battery milestones achieved by its France-based affiliate, Novacium SAS.
Recent charge-discharge tests at the 200-cycle mark for Lithium-ion 18650 batteries, made with a blend of graphite and Novacium’s GEN3 silicon-based anode material, revealed a 36% capacity improvement with only 2% degradation compared to graphite benchmarks. The remaining capacity of 3,734 mAh exceeds the starting capacities of leading 18650 battery models, which range from 3,000 mAh (+25%) [2] to 3,450 mAh (+8%) [3]. After 200 cycles, the GEN3 battery outperforms top models by 25% [3] to 66% [2].

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/battery-industry_novaciums-silicon-based-anode-batteries-activity-7242240671338639361-bizK?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

We’re excited to announce a multi-year supply agreement with REC Silicon for its high-purity Signature Silane®, a key component in the production of our Titan Silicon anode.

To build a strong #battery supply chain and advance U.S. leadership in clean energy manufacturing, #cleantech companies must forge meaningful relationships with domestic raw material producers. We’re extremely proud to partner with REC Silicon, a leader in solar-grade silicon and silicon products, ensuring that we have a reliable, U.S.-based supply of silane to support Titan Silicon delivery to our customers.

This partnership also represents the first commercial agreement for REC’s high-purity Signature Silane® for use in the #automotive segment, demonstrating a demand for these materials across the #cleanenergy sector.

Read full press release: https://lnkd.in/eNy353Sw
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sila-nanotechnologies-inc-_rec-silicon-and-sila-sign-long-term-silane-activity-7242540907919544321-uQ6a?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc., a next-generation battery materials company, today announced a multi-year supply agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of REC Silicon ASA (“REC”), a leading innovator in solar-grade silicon and silicon materials.

Under the terms of the agreement, REC will supply Sila with high-quality, US-produced silane for use in the production of Sila’s breakthrough nano-composite silicon anode material, Titan Silicon. The agreement also ensures a reliable supply of silane through 2031, supporting Sila’s commitments to deliver Titan Silicon to customers, including Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic, as well as additional companies yet to be publicly disclosed.

Additionally, this agreement marks a significant milestone for both companies. It represents the first commercial agreement for REC’s high-purity Signature Silane® for use in the automotive segment and ensures domestic supply of a critical component to anode materials production for Sila.

“Our agreement with REC Silicon is a critical step in securing the raw materials needed to deliver Titan Silicon to our auto customers for the long-haul,” said Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder and CEO at Sila. “It also marks the importance of ensuring domestic production and supply of a critical next-generation material to support US manufacturing leadership in clean energy.”

“We appreciate the opportunity to support Sila and their production of next-generation battery materials,” said Kurt Levens, CEO at REC Silicon. “This agreement demonstrates the increasing demand for high-purity silicon materials in the clean energy sector, and we are confident that our collaboration will play a key role in accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and highlighting the benefits of working with an experienced, reliable and consistent silane producer.”

https://batteryindustry.tech/rec-silicon-and-sila-sign-long-term-silane-supply-agreement/

🤝Last week, REC Silicon signed an agreement to supply Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. with high purity silane gas. Both companies have operations in Moses Lake, an emerging US hub for silicon anodes.

🔑 Silane gas is a key component of many next-generation silicon anode materials. By 2032, supply of silicon anode materials derived from silane gas is forecast by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence to rise 650% and their market share of the silicon-containing anode market to reach 10%.

💬 “There is a lot of innovation in different engineered silicon anode active materials to improve performance and stability. Of these, materials that nano-deposit silicon inside the pores of a scaffold structure, or grown nanowires, are a leading technology being pursued globally.” - Rory McNulty, Product Director (New Technology) at Benchmark.

Read more on Source. Link in the comments.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/birdmatthew_last-week-rec-silicon-signed-an-agreement-activity-7243912798458494976-yF-y?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

🔎 In charts: How #silicon anodes could impact #graphite demand

The battery #anode market is forecast to enter a supply deficit towards the end of the decade, presenting an opportunity for next-generation anode technologies such as silicon to bridge that gap.

Small quantities of silicon can be added to graphite to significantly boost the energy density of the anode, meaning the same weight of material has a higher capacity than an equivalent anode without silicon.

Through three charts, Benchmark explains how the rise of silicon anodes could impact graphite demand - read the article below ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eRG78wS3


https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benchmark-mineral-intelligence_in-charts-how-silicon-anodes-could-impact-activity-7243937209270120449-DEJv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Fin lese stoff.

https://spectrum-ieee-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/spectrum.ieee.org/amp/silicon-anode-battery-2659927950

Han er en flink journalist og skulle ønske hatt tilgang til artikkelen.


By Rick Morgan – Inno Senior Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal
Sep 24, 2024

Battery tech company Sila deepens Washington ties in deal with key supplier.

The company is developing a massive factory in central Washington, where a key supplier will provide an important component for its technology.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/09/24/sila-moses-lake-rec-silane-washington-battery.html

Noe å følge med på den 14-18 okt.

Battery Wars. Can the Best Tech Win?

Featuring:
Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder & CEO, Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc.
Moderated by Steve LeVine , Editor, @The Electric

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sosv_ev-batteries-silicon-activity-7246559687507103745-zbj5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Leser jeg dette helt rett så bør en børsmelding om første leveransen være rett rundt hjørnet.

🔥 #FridayShoutout to our unstoppable Qcells Georgia, USA solar factory team! 🇺🇸

Your dedication to assembling the best-in-class solar modules is helping our utility-scale customers level up and power the future. 💪⚡

These aren't just any #solar modules—they’re #manufactured right here in the #USA and designed to lead the industry in #performance and #reliability.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/qcells-usa-corp_fridayshoutout-solar-manufactured-activity-7250566154283278336-DvAV?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Som nevnt Q-Cells er ganske aktiv med oppdateringer om made in Amerika varer. Her kan en ikke ta feil. De må ha mottatt vare fra REC og er fornøyd med resultatet.
Alt tyder på at det ikke kommer noe mer utsettelse. Børsmelding bør komme man-tir tenker jeg, om ikke i kveld.
Dette ser bra ut folkens. Endelig vente tiden er over og kursen må begynne å oppføre seg deretter. 👍

PS: Se videoen.

The moment you've anticipated has arrived! We present to you what clean energy #MadeInAmerica means to us and to all Americans nationwide.

It’s time to power our great nation with the promise of #cleanenergy.

Watch the full story and get started today: https://ow.ly/KkWE50Q7Aq2



https://www.linkedin.com/posts/qcells-northamerica_madeinamerica-cleanenergy-activity-7130577756144226305-siaw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Intervjue med Gene Berdichevsky

Battery Wars: Can The Best Tech Win?
https://youtu.be/SEo7nak0wA4

Kan det være grunner til denne innsatsen tro? 😂

REC Silicon won the People’s Choice award for the best-decorated table at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Tuesday.

October 16, 2024
https://columbiabasinherald.com/photos/2024/oct/16/473821/

☀ On this week's NCW MVP Podcast, I spoke with Chuck Sutton, VP of Silicon Sales and Government Relations at REC Silicon. We explored clean and renewable energy, the evolving landscape of the silicon industry, and the local opportunities for students and workers in this field. Tune in to learn more about REC Silicon!

https://youtu.be/bBaR6Xt3FT0