The U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office is making a direct loan of up to $9.63 billion to a Ford Motor Co. joint venture that is preparing to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for future Ford and Lincoln vehicles. DOE stated that BlueOval SK LLC has prompted 5,000 construction jobs at three sites, and lead to as many as 7,500 operations jobs.
In 2021 Ford and South Korean battery maker SK On established BlueOval SK as a $5.8-billion effort to produce EV batteries at three new sites, two in Kentucky and one in Tennessee, with a total capacity for 120 gigawatts of electric power annually.
The plants are under construction now, and reportedly on schedule to begin manufacturing batteries in 2025. BlueOval SK reportedly has invested over $11 billion to date in the three plants.
The traction battery cell and array module technology to be produced at the three plants is a development of SK On parent company, South Korea-based SK Innovation.
Similar to recent DOE loans to other EV ventures, the borrower must implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan: for BlueOval SK this includes partnerships with Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Kentucky and Tennessee College of Applied Technology to build new community and technical colleges to train local workers for work in the start-up plants.
DOE said the new loan is the largest one granted through its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program, which is charged with ensuring the U.S. can meet domestic demand and remain a globally competitive in EV manufacturing.
Earlier this month, the DOE granted up to $7.54 billion to StarPlus Energy, the Stellantis/Samsung SDI joint venture building two lithium-ion battery plants in Indiana.
In November, DOE issued a loan of up to $6.6 billion to Rivian Motors for construction of its second EV manufacturing plant, in Georgia.
And in 2022, the DOE loaned $2.5 billion to the General Motors and LG Energy Solution venture that built lithium-ion battery cell plants in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.
