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Released July 12, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ENTEK Lithium Separators LLC (Lebanon, Oregon) has become the latest company to receive a conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a project involving electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The loan is for an Indiana plant that will make the separators that go within EV batteries.
Battery separators keep the anode and cathode of a battery from direct contact, helping prevent shorts while still allowing electrolyte conduction. In addition to the EV sector, ENTEK also will manufacture separators for energy-storage purposes. Each gigawatt-hour of battery cell manufacturing requires 7 million to 10 million square meters of battery separator material depending on the battery's form. The DOE estimates that by 2030, the North American lithium-ion EV sector will require separator production of 7 billion to 10 billion square meters.
The DOE's conditional loan is for $1.2 billion and, if finalized, would come from the department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which has $40 billion in direct lending authority.
ENTEK's plant is presently under construction in Terre Haute, Indiana. Groundwork kicked off in 2023, and the facility is expected to have its first phase of construction completed in 2025. The complex will include four buildings totaling 1.4 million square feet and two production lines. At full production capacity, the plant is expected to produce 1.72 billion square meters of separator material annually, enough for roughly 1.9 million mid-sized EVs or 1.3 million electric SUVs.
The Indiana plant has room to grow, and ENTEK already is considering potential equipment additions, adding another six to eight production lines with a resulting plant capacity of about 15 billion square feet of separator sheets per year. ENTEK will see if the market warrants such an expansion in the future.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can learn more by viewing reports on the grassroot project and potential new production lines.
ENTEK also has suggested it is interested in constructing a second U.S. site, potentially in Alabama.
Industrial Info is tracking several battery separator projects in the U.S. Potentially one of the biggest is underway in Sidney, Ohio, about 80 miles northwest of Columbus. Grassroot construction on Semcorp Global Limited's (Yuxi, China) 850,000-square-foot building began earlier this year and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2025. According to Semcorp, the project represents the largest foreign direct investment in Ohio.
What gives the manufacturing center a leading edge and potentially making it one of the biggest separator manufacturing plants in the U.S. are three possible expansion projects occurring sequentially after initial construction is complete. Including the expansions, the total investment value of the project weighs in at more than $1.9 billion.
The expansions fit Semcorp's production goals. The company is currently the largest battery separator manufacturer in the world, with 5 billion square meters of annual production capacity from six facilities. Semcorp says it plans to add another 8 billion square meters of annual production capacity in the next four years, including from the Sidney facility. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
In addition to China-based separator manufacturer Green New Energy Materials' (Yulin) renovation of an existing building in Denver, North Carolina, for its first U.S. manufacturing facility (see project report), Industrial Info also is tracking maintenance programs at existing plants, most notably Microporous LLC's (Piney Flats, Tennessee) programs for this year and next at its 128,600-square-foot battery separators plant in Piney Flats. The programs call for weekly maintenance shutdowns as needed throughout the year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Industrial Manufacturing Database can click here to view reports for most of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
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) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Battery separators keep the anode and cathode of a battery from direct contact, helping prevent shorts while still allowing electrolyte conduction. In addition to the EV sector, ENTEK also will manufacture separators for energy-storage purposes. Each gigawatt-hour of battery cell manufacturing requires 7 million to 10 million square meters of battery separator material depending on the battery's form. The DOE estimates that by 2030, the North American lithium-ion EV sector will require separator production of 7 billion to 10 billion square meters.
The DOE's conditional loan is for $1.2 billion and, if finalized, would come from the department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which has $40 billion in direct lending authority.
ENTEK's plant is presently under construction in Terre Haute, Indiana. Groundwork kicked off in 2023, and the facility is expected to have its first phase of construction completed in 2025. The complex will include four buildings totaling 1.4 million square feet and two production lines. At full production capacity, the plant is expected to produce 1.72 billion square meters of separator material annually, enough for roughly 1.9 million mid-sized EVs or 1.3 million electric SUVs.
The Indiana plant has room to grow, and ENTEK already is considering potential equipment additions, adding another six to eight production lines with a resulting plant capacity of about 15 billion square feet of separator sheets per year. ENTEK will see if the market warrants such an expansion in the future.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can learn more by viewing reports on the grassroot project and potential new production lines.
ENTEK also has suggested it is interested in constructing a second U.S. site, potentially in Alabama.
Industrial Info is tracking several battery separator projects in the U.S. Potentially one of the biggest is underway in Sidney, Ohio, about 80 miles northwest of Columbus. Grassroot construction on Semcorp Global Limited's (Yuxi, China) 850,000-square-foot building began earlier this year and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2025. According to Semcorp, the project represents the largest foreign direct investment in Ohio.
What gives the manufacturing center a leading edge and potentially making it one of the biggest separator manufacturing plants in the U.S. are three possible expansion projects occurring sequentially after initial construction is complete. Including the expansions, the total investment value of the project weighs in at more than $1.9 billion.
The expansions fit Semcorp's production goals. The company is currently the largest battery separator manufacturer in the world, with 5 billion square meters of annual production capacity from six facilities. Semcorp says it plans to add another 8 billion square meters of annual production capacity in the next four years, including from the Sidney facility. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
In addition to China-based separator manufacturer Green New Energy Materials' (Yulin) renovation of an existing building in Denver, North Carolina, for its first U.S. manufacturing facility (see project report), Industrial Info also is tracking maintenance programs at existing plants, most notably Microporous LLC's (Piney Flats, Tennessee) programs for this year and next at its 128,600-square-foot battery separators plant in Piney Flats. The programs call for weekly maintenance shutdowns as needed throughout the year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Industrial Manufacturing Database can click here to view reports for most of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
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) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
