The BIL will invest more than $7 billion in the batteries supply chain over the five-year period encompassing fiscal years (FYs) 2022 through 2026. This includes sustainable sourcing of critical minerals from secondary and unconventional sources, reducing the need for new extraction and mining; sustainable processing of critical minerals; and the end-of-life battery collection and recycling.

The activities to be funded under this FOA support BIL Sections 40207 (b) & (c) and the broader government-wide approach to upgrading and modernizing infrastructure, including by strengthening critical domestic manufacturing and supply chains to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis and advance environmental justice.

The high-capacity battery supply chain consists of five main steps including:

1. raw material production,
2. materials processing including material refinement and processing,
3. battery material manufacturing and cell fabrication,
4. battery pack and end use product manufacturing, and
5. battery end-of-life and recycling.

It is anticipated that the FOA would increase domestic battery manufacturing and create good paying clean energy jobs. The overall FOA scope includes commercial facilities for battery-grade precursor materials, constituent materials, battery components, and cell manufacturing and recycling. Applicants should consider and identify potential downstream domestic customers of their material or product. It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Topic Areas:

1. Commercial-scale Lithium Separation from Domestic Sources
2. Commercial-scale Separation, Processing, and Recovery of Battery Critical Minerals (non-Lithium)
3. Commercial-scale Domestic Processing of Crucial Precursor Materials for Battery Manufacturing
4. Commercial-scale Domestic Production of Battery Cathode/ Anode Materials and Cathode/ Anode Electrodes
5. Commercial-scale Domestic Production of Electrolyte Salts and Electrolyte Solvents
6. Commercial-scale Domestic Production of Cell Manufacturing for Small and Specialized Markets
7. Commercial-scale Domestic Production of Non-Lithium Based Battery Cell and Systems
8. Commercial-scale Domestic Manufacturing of Other Cell Components (Open Topic)

This is a Notice of Intent (NOI) only. MESC may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or MESC may not issue a FOA at all.