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Released October 22, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Late last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it is reneging on more than $700 million in grants provided for battery development and manufacture, as well as another grant related to the production of energy-efficient windows.
The cancelled grants come from a pool of more than $20 billion worth of federal awards given under the Biden administration that are now on a list for reconsideration. In a statement regarding the cancellations, DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich told E&E News that the projects "had missed milestones, and it was determined they did not adequately advance the nation's energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars."
Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the cancellation of grants earlier this month, noting that cancellation clauses were written into the terms of the awards. "If they're not in the interest of the taxpayers, if they're not a good expenditure of the money, you always have the ability to cancel these projects," he said.
While the DOE recently took a 5% stake in Lithium Americas (Vancouver, British Columbia) as well as a 5% stake in the mine the company is developing in Nevada with General Motors Company (Detroit, Michigan), certain downstream projects, particularly those employing newer technologies such as recycling or waste reduction, have been judged by the department as unworthy of support.
One of the largest canceled contracts, for example, involved the manufacture of lithium-ion battery components from recycled batteries and production scrap, eliminating several steps in traditional cathode manufacturing, resulting in a process that reduced much of the greenhouse gas emissions from typical cathode production. The DOE had awarded a $316 million grant to Ascend Elements (Devens, Massachusetts) to develop its Apex 1 plant in Kentucky using this proprietary process.
According to Ascend, $206 million of the DOE award has been granted, so the cancellation affects the remaining $110 million, which company executives say is not enough to completely hinder plans for the facility's development. Ascend Chief Executive Officer Linh Austin told E&E News, "The DOE's decision regarding the grant doesn't change our trajectory. We're moving forward." Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.
American Battery Technology Company (Reno, Nevada) was pleased when, in June this year, the administration selected its Tonopah Flats lithium project in Nevada as a priority project worthy of fast-track permitting. Despite the importance placed on the project this summer, its $57 million federal grant was on the list of cancelled funding.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted American Battery Technology Chief Executive Ryan Melsert as saying, "All evidence demonstrates that this critical minerals project aligns with the Administration's mission and key priorities, especially as this project was recently selected by the Administration to be a Priority Project with streamlined federal permitting."
The Tonopah Flats project is planned as a 15.9-ton-per-year open pit lithium mine with a 33,000-ton-per-day commutation plant producing about 30,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.
ICL Performance Products LP had been awarded $197.3 million to help develop a plant in St. Louis, Missouri, to produce 30,000 tons of lithium-ion phosphate powder for battery cathodes. An initial phase of construction, which began in 2023, is drawing to a close for the plant, which will result in 15,000 tons of phosphate powder annually. A second phase would add an additional production line, doubling output. Industrial Info has pegged this second project as kicking off this year, but the withdrawal of DOE funds has the company "reviewing DOE's announcement and the implications thereof," according to a filing made last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
While most of the grants cancelled involved projects up and down the value-chain for lithium-ion batteries, another grant for a project targeting energy-efficient window installations also was canceled. Startup Luxwall (Ypsilanti, Michigan) completed an initial insulated window glass plant in Litchfield, Michigan, in the summer of 2024, paving the way for production of 200,000 energy-efficient windows per year. But the company had plans to build a second factory at a brownfield site in Detroit's Delray neighborhood. The Biden-era DOE awarded a $31.7 million grant to Luxwall in November 2023, of which $1 million has been disbursed.
Construction of the Detroit plant was expected to start this year, putting it on track to begin manufacturing in 2026, but those plans may be on ice now as Luxwall prepares to appeal the DOE's repeal of the grant. While doubling Luxwall's production of specially insulated windows, the new plant would create 277 jobs, according to the company. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for more details on the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all 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) 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 over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
The cancelled grants come from a pool of more than $20 billion worth of federal awards given under the Biden administration that are now on a list for reconsideration. In a statement regarding the cancellations, DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich told E&E News that the projects "had missed milestones, and it was determined they did not adequately advance the nation's energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars."
Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the cancellation of grants earlier this month, noting that cancellation clauses were written into the terms of the awards. "If they're not in the interest of the taxpayers, if they're not a good expenditure of the money, you always have the ability to cancel these projects," he said.
While the DOE recently took a 5% stake in Lithium Americas (Vancouver, British Columbia) as well as a 5% stake in the mine the company is developing in Nevada with General Motors Company (Detroit, Michigan), certain downstream projects, particularly those employing newer technologies such as recycling or waste reduction, have been judged by the department as unworthy of support.
One of the largest canceled contracts, for example, involved the manufacture of lithium-ion battery components from recycled batteries and production scrap, eliminating several steps in traditional cathode manufacturing, resulting in a process that reduced much of the greenhouse gas emissions from typical cathode production. The DOE had awarded a $316 million grant to Ascend Elements (Devens, Massachusetts) to develop its Apex 1 plant in Kentucky using this proprietary process.
According to Ascend, $206 million of the DOE award has been granted, so the cancellation affects the remaining $110 million, which company executives say is not enough to completely hinder plans for the facility's development. Ascend Chief Executive Officer Linh Austin told E&E News, "The DOE's decision regarding the grant doesn't change our trajectory. We're moving forward." Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.
American Battery Technology Company (Reno, Nevada) was pleased when, in June this year, the administration selected its Tonopah Flats lithium project in Nevada as a priority project worthy of fast-track permitting. Despite the importance placed on the project this summer, its $57 million federal grant was on the list of cancelled funding.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted American Battery Technology Chief Executive Ryan Melsert as saying, "All evidence demonstrates that this critical minerals project aligns with the Administration's mission and key priorities, especially as this project was recently selected by the Administration to be a Priority Project with streamlined federal permitting."
The Tonopah Flats project is planned as a 15.9-ton-per-year open pit lithium mine with a 33,000-ton-per-day commutation plant producing about 30,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.
ICL Performance Products LP had been awarded $197.3 million to help develop a plant in St. Louis, Missouri, to produce 30,000 tons of lithium-ion phosphate powder for battery cathodes. An initial phase of construction, which began in 2023, is drawing to a close for the plant, which will result in 15,000 tons of phosphate powder annually. A second phase would add an additional production line, doubling output. Industrial Info has pegged this second project as kicking off this year, but the withdrawal of DOE funds has the company "reviewing DOE's announcement and the implications thereof," according to a filing made last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
While most of the grants cancelled involved projects up and down the value-chain for lithium-ion batteries, another grant for a project targeting energy-efficient window installations also was canceled. Startup Luxwall (Ypsilanti, Michigan) completed an initial insulated window glass plant in Litchfield, Michigan, in the summer of 2024, paving the way for production of 200,000 energy-efficient windows per year. But the company had plans to build a second factory at a brownfield site in Detroit's Delray neighborhood. The Biden-era DOE awarded a $31.7 million grant to Luxwall in November 2023, of which $1 million has been disbursed.
Construction of the Detroit plant was expected to start this year, putting it on track to begin manufacturing in 2026, but those plans may be on ice now as Luxwall prepares to appeal the DOE's repeal of the grant. While doubling Luxwall's production of specially insulated windows, the new plant would create 277 jobs, according to the company. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for more details on the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all 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) 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 over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
