Biden unveils winners of $2 billion in green tax credits

Battery-material maker Novonix, electric vehicle charger manufacturer Wallbox and rare earth producer MP Materials Corp. were among about 35 recipients of clean energy tax credits totaling nearly $2 billion that were announced Friday by the Biden administration.

The credits announced by the Energy Department are part of a program for clean energy manufacturers that received $10 billion through President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. They provide investment tax credits of as much as 30 percent for technologies that accelerate clean energy manufacturing and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities.

A subsidiary of Novonix received $103 million to equip a recently purchased Chattanooga, Tenn., facility to produce synthetic graphite anode material used in lithium-ion batteries. Wallbox received $5.2 million to expand its flagship factory in Arlington, Texas, and MP Materials got $58.5 million to help build a rare-earth magnet factory in Fort Worth, Texas.

Danish electrolyzer manufacturer Topsoe A/S received $136 million for use in the construction of a $400 million plant in Chesterfield, Virginia. The facility will employ about 150 workers and make electrolyzers that produce 30 percent more green hydrogen than conventional machines using the same amount of electricity, Chief Executive Officer Roeland Baan said Friday in a phone interview.

“The tax credit allows us to scale up much faster and as a result we’ll end up being able to drive costs down much faster,” Baan said. Topsoe will “end up with products that will be much more competitive with fossil fuels,” he added.

American Battery Technology Co. received $19.5 million for a facility to recycle lithium-ion batteries in Sparks, Nevada.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will announce the awards with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper at a Siemens Energy facility in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company is expanding a plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, to make large power transformers and received $18 million.

“This factory will help lead in the modernization and expansion of our electrical grid,” Rich Voorberg, president of Siemens Energy in North America, said in a statement.

The department announced last month it was awarding a total of $4 billion in credits for over 100 projects, but didn’t disclose the recipients for tax privacy reasons. The companies highlighted in Friday’s announcement agreed to being publicly named.

Other companies that received awards included:
•    $54 million for Ballard Power Systems Inc.
•    $9.4 million for Albemarle Corp.
•    $26.6 million for Eaton Corporation
•    $3.9 million for Prysmian
•    $34.1 million for John Cockerill Hydrogen North America
•    $41.1 million for Nel ASA