The U.S. Department of Energy's loans office said on Friday it has finalized a loan of $1.3 billion to ENTEK Lithium Separators to finance a plant in Indiana for making lithium-ion battery separators used mostly in electric vehicles.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The Loan Programs Office is racing to finalize billions of dollars in loans to companies developing cutting-edge technologies expected to help speed an energy transition and curb climate change.

The loan was offered conditionally in July through the LPO's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which that has $40 billion in direct lending authority.

It is uncertain whether President-elect Donald Trump would finalize any outstanding LPO loans if the administration of President Joe Biden does not complete pending loans before leaving office on Jan. 20. Trump's incoming administration plans to target federal regulations that aim to make vehicles more energy-efficient and spark a shift toward EVs.

WHAT ARE BATTERY SEPARATORS?
Battery separators play a key role in the performance and safety of lithium-ion batteries. Separators produced at the project in Terre Haute, Indiana, will accommodate all existing lithium-ion EV battery chemistries, the LPO has said.

BY THE NUMBERS
The project is expected to create 763 construction jobs and 635 operational jobs, the LPO said. The Department of Energy estimates that by 2030, the North American lithium-ion EV battery industry will require annual separator production of 7 billion to 10 billion square meters.

Once complete, the ENTEK plant is expected to have the capacity to manufacture 1.72 billion square meters of separator material annually for the North American EV market.