Factbox: U.S. climate package jump-starts EV, clean energy projects

SPI Energy Co

12/09/2022 19:09

By Valerie Volcovici
    Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's signing of
the Infrastructure Reduction Act (IRA) on Aug. 16 unlocked
hundreds of billions of dollars in climate-related investments. 
    As a result, dozens of energy, automobile and clean
technology companies have announced plans to move forward with
new projects or accelerate the timeline on previous deals.
    Here are some of examples:
    
EV/BATTERIES
    * Honda  7267.T  and LG Energy Solution  373220.KS  – $4.4
billion
for a new battery plant with annual production capacity of 40
GWh. 
    * Hyundai  005380.KS  – Construction of $5.54 billion EV and
battery plant in Savannah, Georgia, could start this year
instead of January 2023.  
    * Panasonic  6752.T  – Second new battery plant: Panasonic,
an EV
battery supplier to Tesla, is considering Oklahoma for its
second new $4 billion battery plant. The first plant will be in
Kansas. 
    * Tesla  TSLA.O  - Lithium refinery: EV giant Tesla is
seeking
approval in Texas to set up a lithium refinery. Construction
could begin in the fourth quarter of 2022 and would reach
commercial production by the end of 2024. 
    * Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  – Volkswagen signed an agreement
with
Canada to advance a sustainable battery supply chain and supply
lithium, nickel and cobalt. 
    * Sparkz – More jobs: The battery startup in late August
announced
Taylor County, West Virginia, as the site of a future plant that
will commercialize a zero-cobalt battery. 
    * Piedmont Lithium Inc  PLL.O  - Lithium processing plant:
The
company said on Sept. 1 it will build a $600 million lithium
processing plant in Etowah, Tennessee, that will begin
production in 2025 with a target of 30,000 metric ton per year. 

RENEWABLES
    
    * Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie
project the U.S. solar market growing 40% more than prior
forecasts through 2027 on the heels of the legislation.
    * First Solar  FSLR.O   - Expanded manufacturing: Top U.S.
solar
panel maker First Solar Inc said on Aug. 30 it spend $1 billion
to build a new facility in the Southeast and invest $185 million
in its existing Ohio factories.  
    * SPI Energy  SPI.O  – Letter of Intent for U.S. solar wafer
manufacturing: SPI Energy announced on Aug. 23 that it signed a
letter of intent to secure 1.5 GW of solar wafer manufacturing
equipment, as part of plans for 3 GW of U.S. manufacturing
capacity by 2024. 
    * REC Silicon and Mississippi Silicon  RECSI.OL  – Solar
supply
chain expansion agreement: REC Silicon and Mississippi Silicon,
which produce raw materials used in solar panels, announced on
Aug. 22 they will expand their relationship to support
development of an end-to-end U.S. solar supply chain. 

BATTERY STORAGE
    * Kontrolmatik Technologies  KONTR.IS  – Expansion of
grid-scale
battery factory: Virginia-based energy storage company
Kontrolmatik announced on Aug. 16 that its first U.S.-based
lithium-ion battery factory, previously expected to have a 2 GWh
capacity, will now have a 3 GWh capacity. 
    * Zinc8  ZAIR.CD  – New battery manufacturing facility:
Zinc8
announced Aug. 12 it signed a letter of intent to make Ulster
County, New York, the home of its first major manufacturing hub,
citing incentives included in the IRA.

HEAT PUMPS
    * Carrier  CARR.N  – Center of Excellence for heat pump
production: On Aug. 24, air conditioning company Carrier
designated a facility in Tennessee as site for high-efficiency
heat pump production. 

DIRECT AIR CAPTURE
    * CarbonCapture — Accelerated project: Los Angeles-based
CarbonCapture announced on Sept. 8 it is speeding up its plans
to build a 5 million ton-per-year direct air capture project in
Wyoming by several months thanks to the IRA.


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 (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; additional
reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles and Ernest Scheyder in
Houston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
 ((valerie.volcovici@thomsonreuters.com;))