The US Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday said it would allocate over $3bn in grants and loans for 25 projects in 14 states to boost advanced battery and related material production.

It said the projects would create more than 8,000 construction jobs and 4,000 operating jobs.

“Batteries are critical to strengthening the US grid, powering American homes and businesses, and supporting the electrification of the transportation sector,” it said.

Administered by DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, the selected projects will retrofit, expand, and build new domestic facilities for battery-grade processed minerals, battery components, battery manufacturing, and recycling.

The DOE said the private sector had invested $120bn in the EV supply chain so far under the Biden-Harris Administration.

It said this scheme – called the “Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Program” – would generate $16bn in investment for battery manufacturing and recycling.

Supported projects will include new or expanded commercial-scale facilities that extract and recycle minerals including lithium, graphite, and manganese.

Others will manufacture components and what the DOE called “the most essential building blocks of the battery supply chain”, such as electrolyte salts, solid-state electrolytes, polymers for separators, cathode and anode materials.

‘Onshore and friend-shore’

The US is trying to create an end-to-end battery supply chain that is independent of China.

“The Biden-Harris administration is using every available tool to onshore and friend-shore the supply chain for EVs and batteries, working with our allies and partners, for the benefit of our national security, our economy, and our planet,” said John Podesta, senior adviser to President Biden for international climate policy.

“Today’s battery manufacturing grants from DOE will boost America’s manufacturing base, create good-paying union jobs all over the country, and help tackle the climate crisis,” he added.

The battery programme also aligns with Biden’s support for unions.

The DOE said more than half of the 25 selected projects have committed to a project labour agreement and 10 have an agreement with labour or a neutrality pledge.

Around 90% of the projects are located in or adjacent to disadvantaged communities, the DOE said.