- Marking the first loan facility from the U.S. Department of Energy to be allocated to a lithium-ion battery recycling company, Li-Cycle has been granted a loan of up to $475 million to assist in development of its Rochester Hub in upstate New York – which is also set to be the first commercial hydrometallurgical battery resource recovery facility within North America.
- Completion of the site is expected to take between one and two years on the back of this funding,
- The facility will form a key part in ensuring the U.S. has a strong domestic EV battery supply chain – which could become even more crucial throughout 2025, with President-elect Trump threatening high tariffs against EVs and EV batteries from countries such as China and Mexico.
Li-Cycle gets the funding it needs to continue development of Rochester Hub
Li-Cycle estimates the total cost needed to complete the facility stands at $960 million, and so Li-Cycle will be seeking the remaining capital required through private financial sources. Once in full operation, annually, the site is expected to produce 8,250 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate, whilst processing up to 72,000 tonnes of Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate from end-of-life lithium ion batteries.
A similar EV battery recycling plant, with an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process, has also been opened across the pond in Europe, with Mercedes-Benz opening a new EV battery recycling facility in Germany, which also carries the same aim of building a complete battery recycling loop.
Ajay Kochhar, Li-Cycle President and CEO, commented:
“Throughout 2024, one of Li-Cycle’s primary objectives has been to finalize negotiations with the DOE in order to enter into definitive documentation to obtain a DOE loan. Today, we are excited to announce our achievement of this significant milestone, which we believe represents a strong vote of confidence in Li-Cycle’s patented and environmentally friendly recycling technology and business model. Securing the DOE Loan Facility through our close collaboration with the DOE is a critical step toward our goal of restarting construction at the Rochester Hub project.
We believe that the DOE Loan Facility offers attractive terms relative to other third-party financing alternatives available to us. We believe it will also enhance our financial flexibility and support our mission to create a sustainable, closed-loop battery supply chain, which is vital to the electrification transition and securing energy independence in North America.”
