U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 that the Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $480,582,200 to Ascend Elements, a lithium-ion battery materials manufacturer, to support their construction of a 470,000-square-foot battery recycling facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
DOE awarded this funding as part of the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Component Manufacturing & Recycling program, which awards competitive grants to domestic battery manufacturers in an effort to bring battery production supply chains to the United States. Currently, many of the lithium-ion batteries Americans use – including for electric vehicles, portable electronic devices, and power tools – are sourced from countries like China.
Senator McConnell helped secure $7 billion for the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Component Manufacturing & Recycling grant program through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That bill passed Congress last year with the Senator’s support, and the President signed it into law last November.
“The bipartisan infrastructure bill I supported last year makes important investments in Kentucky’s transportation networks, broadband, and manufacturing capacity to help prepare our economy for the challenges of the 21st century. Today’s grant adds an additional $480 million to the billions Kentucky is already slated to receive from the bill and will help the Commonwealth secure its place as a manufacturing powerhouse. The national security benefits from this project – which will allow us to source important battery components domestically instead of from rival countries like China – only add to the significance of this grant for our country,” said Senator McConnell.
“I want to personally thank Senator McConnell for his leadership. His support for the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Component Manufacturing and Recycling grant program was critical to securing this award from the Department of Energy. The funding provided will allow us to build out our Apex 1 facility in Kentucky. This facility will not only create hundreds of good paying jobs, but will revolutionize how batteries are recycled and returned back into the battery supply chain in this country,” said Michael O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements.
The funding comes from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Senator McConnell supported last year.
