Contractor Partnership Wins Kentucky Battery Recycling Plant in Chapter 11 Auction

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Written by Paul Wiseman for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

The construction team working on the facility has taken ownership of a battery-recycling facility in Kentucky.

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A Winning Bid

Ascend Elements' under-construction Apex 1 battery materials recycling plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, will be sold to Turner-Kokosing Joint Venture (TKJV), a partnership between Turner Construction and Kokosing Industrial that was building the plant. A Texas bankruptcy court approved TKJV's $31.7 million bid for the facility on June 4.

The partnership in April of 2025 had filed a $138 million lawsuit against Ascend for unpaid bills for the construction. A year later, on April 9 of this year, Apex voluntarily filed in a Texas court for protection under Chapter 11 of U.S. bankruptcy laws.

According to Industrial Info Resources data, the $310 million construction project involves establishing a cathode precursor (pCAM) and lithium carbonate facility and install equipment, using a proprietary technology ascend rolled out at its Covington, Georgia, plant.

The Other Bidder

In addition to TKJV, the other bidder was American Battery Technology Company (ABAT). Unlike TKJV, which has no connection to recycling other than being owed money for building Apex 1, ABAT is fully engaged in the recycling of battery materials.

In light of that fundamental difference, ABAT Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ryan Meisert filed a court declaration saying his company should have been awarded the purchase.

One part of Meisert's claim lay under the Continued Use Pathway for projects using federal funds. In that (2 CFR § 910.360(f) and in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Financial Assistance Letter No. FAL 2022-05, stating that after funding ceases or progress is delayed for other reasons, it can be transferred to another company using a similar grant, without any financial penalty.

Any other buyer would have a more complicated and expensive issue with the federal government. And TKJV, since it has not been in the battery materials recycling industry at all, is likely to flip the property to someone else, if not now, then possibly upon completion.

Another Claim

It gets sticker, because TKJV is not the only entity owed money. United Electric Company (UEC) also filed suit demanding $18.7 million, assured of getting their payment in the process. The Critical Minerals Bulletin reports that UEC has worked out their objection to TKJV's purchase, but is still opposed to the court finding for ABAT, presumably because this could complicate UEC's own settlement.

A History of Mismanagement

Ascend Elements' CEO Linh Austin announced the Chapter 11 filing in an April 9 LinkedIn post in which he said he'd taken the CEO role in 2025 "with the full knowledge that Ascend Elements had a long history of fiscal and operational mismanagement, and that its future was very much in question."

Even so, the company's failure had at least some outside help. After its founding in 2015, Ascend received federal funding totaling $418 million to advance battery recycling, and its Kentucky facility had originally received a DOE grant of $316 million.

Construction began in 2022 but was halted in 2024. And in 2025, Ascend announced that its original intent to include cathode active material (CAM) with its pCAM recycling at the plant was cancelled due to "changing market conditions." In doing so, Ascend and the DOE mutually decided to cancel an agency grant of $164 million. At that time, the $316 million was still in play.

Ascend moved forward to spend about $206 million of that money, according to USASpending.gov.

Bankroll Reversal

However, in October of 2025 the DOE cancelled the rest of that funding, along with a total of $7.5 billion in funding, most of which had been authorized by the Biden Administration. In all, 321 financial awards were terminated for 223 projects.

As a result, Ascend was suddenly out just over $100 million for the project. While this amount would not have been enough to cover the lawsuits by TKJV and UEC, it was likely a further step toward the Chapter 11 filing in 2026.

By the Numbers

• $31.7 million: TKJV's winning bid for the Apex 1 project in Kentucky
• $138 million: Amount of lawsuit TKJV filed against Apex for unpaid bills
• $206 million: Amount of $318 million DOE funding spent on project before remainder was rescinded

Key Takeaways

• A joint-venture construction firm placed the winning bid for bankrupt Ascend Element's under-construction battery-recycling plant in Kentucky.
• Another battery-recycling firm that lost in the bidding process is challenging the selection.

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About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).