Princeton NuEnergy Inc. (PNE), a U.S.-based advanced battery materials company pioneering direct recycling technologies, announced that it has been selected to enter award negotiations for a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support the construction of a domestic closed-loop Cathode-to-Cathode® rejuvenation facility in Commerce, Georgia.
The $110 million project, including a $60 million company cost share, will establish a 3,000 tonnes-per-year first-of-its-kind facility utilizing PNE’s proprietary low-temperature plasma-assisted separation, or LPAS™, technology, and create 70 full-time manufacturing jobs and approximately 100 construction jobs.
Designed to process nickel-based lithium-ion battery-manufacturing scrap, the facility will recover and rejuvenate cathode active material for return to battery manufacturing, creating an integrated, closed-loop domestic battery supply chain.
“This selection represents an important validation of Princeton NuEnergy’s technology and our ability to bring direct recycling to commercial scale,” said Joe Fisher, Chief Commercial Officer of Princeton NuEnergy. “By deploying our Cathode-to-Cathode® process alongside battery-cell manufacturing, we can transform manufacturing scrap directly back into high-quality cathode active material while lowering costs and strengthening America’s domestic battery-material supply chain.”
“We are grateful for the Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI), Manufacturing Deployment Office (MDO), support and look forward to bringing this project into operation.” said Dr. Chao Yan, founder and CEO of Princeton NuEnergy.