The U.S. Department of Energy announced $500 million in grants at the end of August 2026 to seven companies expanding domestic battery materials processing, cell-component manufacturing and recycling - the third round from the DoE's $3 billion Battery Manufacturing and Recycling and Battery Materials Processing programmes.
Three $100 million anchor projects
Lilac Solutions received $100 million to build a direct lithium extraction facility at Utah's Great Salt Lake. Jervois Global was awarded $100 million to develop the only cobalt refinery in the United States, at its Idaho site. Trafigura-backed Nth Cycle also secured $100 million to expand a battery metal scrap recycling facility.
Four $50 million recipients round out the round
Princeton NuEnergy, Arcanum Ventures, Elevated Materials and Coreshell Technologies each received $50 million for cathode reprocessing, battery electrolyte production, fast-charging battery materials and silicon-anode manufacturing respectively. The awards land as U.S. battery startups increasingly rely on federal grants and defense contracts to compete with subsidised Chinese output.
Why it matters
The DoE calls the grants a national-security measure, positioning batteries alongside recent U.S. investments in semiconductor supply chains and nuclear reactor manufacturing. It also follows a broader defense-battery push profiled after the Palantir-Anduril Titan orders.
Reporting based on coverage from the U.S. Department of Energy, Carbon Credits, Benchmark Source and BigGo Finance.