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Australian-based Syrah Technologies has received a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its Vidalia battery plant in Louisiana.
Syrah will receive up to US$107 million, the DOE said in a statement.
The expansion will allow Syrah to produce enough graphite-based active anode material for approximately 2.5 million EVs by 2040. Syrah will invest US$176 million to expand the processing facility.
The expansion will create approximately 150 construction jobs and 98 operations jobs.
The loan will be the first loan from the DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing programme in 10 years. It would be the first loan from the programme for a supply chain manufacturing project.
Several steps remain in the process before the loan can be financed, the DOE said.
"Projects like Syrah Vedalia are critical to our national security, our foreign policy, building our supply chain, and our economy," the DOE said.
The Biden administration has made the domestic sourcing of critical minerals and materials a priority, with the aim of reducing dependence on Chinese raw materials.
Syrah Resources has a four-year offtake agreement with Tesla. The Louisiana plant sources its raw materials from Syrah's Balama graphite mine in Mozambique.
