DOE Loan Programs Office

Another heartland manufacturing project supercharging America's domestic electric vehicle (EV) supply chain! (See: https://lnkd.in/gPGHFYKC) Today, LPO announced a conditional commitment of up to $1.2 billion for a direct loan to ENTEK Lithium Separators LLC (ENTEK International) to substantially finance a new facility in Terre Haute, Indiana to manufacture lithium-ion battery separators. A battery separator is a membrane sandwiched between the anode and cathode of a battery. The principal functions of the battery separator are to prevent electronic conduction (i.e., shorts or direct contact) between the anode and cathode while permitting ionic conduction via the electrolyte. Separators play an essential role in the performance and safety of lithium-ion batteries. This project will make a significant contribution to growth in domestic battery separator capacity and help U.S. EV manufacturers satisfy battery component sourcing requirements under the 30D Clean Vehicle Credit. The tax credit, included in President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), offers up to $7,500 for the purchase of new clean vehicles. The ENTEK project is expected to create 763 construction jobs and 635 operational jobs and reinforces the President Biden's Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing technologies that are critical to meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are zero-emissions vehicles. Today’s announcement also supports the President’s comprehensive strategy to build a safer, more sustainable transportation system and slash all greenhouse emissions from the transportation sector by 2050. As with all conditional commitments that LPO offers, it's important to note that while this announcement demonstrates an intent to finance the project, the expected U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) financing will only be issued pending the satisfaction of certain conditions—including final legal, contractual, technical, and financial requirements—that the conditional commitment specifies. LEARN MORE: • What is a Conditional Commitment & How is it Different from a Loan or Loan Guarantee? https://lnkd.in/gkhfhYHZ • President Biden's "Investing in America" Agenda: WhiteHouse.gov/Invest • LPO's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing direct loan program homepage: Energy.gov/LPO/ATVM • Read about other LPO project announcements: https://lnkd.in/g23s_Uk4 #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingAdvancedVehicles #FinancingEVComponents #FinancingSupplyChains #ATVM #InvestingInAmerica #LPONews #ConditionalCommitment

LPO's project application pipeline (see: https://lnkd.in/gSZ_9pKz) shows 214 active applications seeking a cumulative of $285.7 billion in financing through June 30, 2024 for proposed clean energy, energy infrastructure reinvestment, advanced transportation, tribal energy, and CO2 transportation infrastructure projects across the country. This monthly report breaks down LPO's active applications across 14 broad technology sectors and their proposed project sites across eight geographic regions. See LPO's MAAR page for these breakdowns, examples of what types of technologies are included within each of the tech sector categories used for the reporting, and the current estimated remaining loan authority for each LPO financing program: Energy.gov/LPO/MAAR #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingCleanEnergy #FinancingEnergyInfrastructureReinvestment #FinancingAdvancedTransportation #FinancingTribalEnergy #FinancingCO2TransportationInfrastructure #LPOMAAR

** HIRING ALERT: Are you interested in working to make a meaningful impact in fighting climate change, creating jobs, and supporting American global leadership in clean energy? If so, consider joining the team at LPO! Energy.gov/LPO/Careers Along with other opportunities, LPO is currently looking for a Budget Analyst to join our Management & Operations Division: https://lnkd.in/gvxqBpVK As a Budget Analyst with LPO, you will: • Perform administrative and analytical duties relative to the formulation, justification, presentation, execution and review of one or more assigned areas of the budget. • Consolidate data for viable overview of financial status of assigned organizational programs. • Conduct budgetary reviews and analyses in support of programs, and organizational and management needs and objectives. • Prepare financial reports and analyzes and reviews annual, multi-year and no year financial performance for assigned organization/program. • Identify trends, material weaknesses, problems and discrepancies, and determine if adjustments or corrections are needed. • Record and analyze approved funding data ensuring that data are complete, recorded accurately, and that errors are identified and resolved. Full job details and application instructions may be found at the official vacancy announcement: https://lnkd.in/gvxqBpVK To search other opportunities with LPO, go to: Energy.gov/LPO/Careers NOTE: Applications will be accepted from Monday, July 1, 2024 through Monday, July 8, 2024. #DOELPO #DeployDeployDeploy #BridgeToBankability #OpenForBusiness #LPONews #LPOTeam #LPOJobs

The June 2024 issue of LPO's monthly newsletter is out! Read the email newsletter at: https://lnkd.in/gkZtqRzD IN THIS ISSUE: Bioforge Conditional Commitment • Offshore Wind Liftoff Report • Understanding EIR • Storage Sector Spotlight • And More! Check out this latest issue here on LinkedIn or subscribe to have the newsletter and other LPO announcements sent directly to your email inbox: https://lnkd.in/gcKPCYev By subscribing, you can stay up to date with the latest from the DOE Loan Programs Office, including announcements about our financing programs, upcoming events, news about our portfolio projects, and ways to engage with our team about your project. #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingCleanEnergy #FinancingEnergyInfrastructureReinvestment #FinancingAdvancedTransportation #FinancingTribalEnergy #FinancingCO2TransportationInfrastructure #LPONews

** UPDATE: This application closing deadline has been extended to Monday, July 8, 2024. ** HIRING ALERT: Are you interested in working to make a meaningful impact in fighting climate change, creating jobs, and supporting American global leadership in clean energy? If so, consider joining the team at LPO! Energy.gov/LPO/Careers Amongst other opportunities, LPO is currently looking for a Supervisory Loan Specialist to join our Portfolio Management Division. As a Supervisory Loan Specialist, you will be integral to the complex management and oversight of a multi-billion dollar portfolio comprised of federal loans and loan guarantees invested in advanced energy and vehicle technology projects. For this role, we're looking for a seasoned manager with experience in compliance, internal assessment, enterprise risk management, as well monitoring compliance with Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), and other federal regulatory requirements. Full job details and application instructions may be found at the official vacancy announcement: https://lnkd.in/gAMUSwF2 and for more opportunities with LPO see: Energy.gov/LPO/Careers NOTE: Applications will be accepted from Monday, June 24, 2024 through Monday, July 8, 2024. #DOELPO #DeployDeployDeploy #BridgeToBankability #OpenForBusiness #LPONews #LPOTeam #LPOJobs

A reminder to join senior leaders from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) this Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 3:00 pm EDT for a deep-dive webinar discussing the recently released Pathways to Commercial Liftoff report for Offshore Wind. Register today for this free, public, hourlong webinar at: https://lnkd.in/gpN4-5RY ** Please note that pre-registration is required to receive the virtual meeting link. The "Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Offshore Wind" report describes how the U.S. offshore wind sector is adapting to challenges and poised for continued progress to create tens of thousands of new, good-paying jobs and expand access to clean energy for millions of Americans, with a path to deploying over 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2050. Some key findings from this latest report include: • The U.S. offshore wind market is at an inflection point, with improved risk mitigation being built into industry planning. • The sector is poised for Liftoff, beginning with 10–15 GW of projects that have a path to final investment decision in the next few years. • While costs increased over the past few years, there is a path to cost reductions moving forward. • Offshore wind power has a compelling and distinctive value proposition that complements other clean resources, with high capacity factors and strong winter production that support grid reliability and resource diversity. The DOE Pathways to Commercial Liftoff Reports are the product of comprehensive stakeholder engagement combining system-level modeling with project-level financial analysis. While they do not represent official DOE policy or strategic plans, they serve as crucial resources for decision-makers in the energy sector, investors, and a broader range of stakeholders. See Liftoff.Energy.gov for more information. LEARN MORE: • Read the full DOE press release announcing the report: https://lnkd.in/gitNPrSc • Read the Offshore Wind Liftoff report summary page: https://lnkd.in/gydpinAZ • Download the full report: https://lnkd.in/gjPt5mEk • Download the two-page summary: https://lnkd.in/gVjGfxBJ #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingCleanEnergy #FinancingOffshoreWind #LPOEvents #LPOWebinar #Liftoff

LPO's first clean fuels & products conditional commitment is official! (see: https://lnkd.in/gxQ9PWrc) Today, LPO announced a conditional commitment to Solugen Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary, Bioforge Marshall LLC, for a $213.6 million loan guarantee to finance the construction of a production facility in Marshall, Minnesota for bio-based organic acids. This commitment represents the single largest U.S. government investment in bioindustrial manufacturing since President Biden signed Executive Order 14081 on Advancing Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy (see: https://lnkd.in/gzCP96Ap) For the Bioforge project, Solugen will construct, own, and operate a biomanufacturing platform to produce organic acids with a novel technology that leverages enzymes and metal catalysts. The new facility will house three modular trains manufacturing various organic acids for use in the concrete, cleaning, agricultural, and energy industries—cutting harmful emissions from hard-to-decarbonize sectors while helping to support healthier communities across the nation. Bioforge Marshall is a scaled-up version of Solugen’s Bioforge Houston, which has been operating in Texas since 2021 and where its highly efficient production process has led to significantly lower carbon emissions and a higher yield compared to conventional petroleum-based methods for incumbent chemistries. As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create good-paying, high-quality job opportunities for American workers, this project will create up to 100 jobs during construction, and 56 highly skilled full-time manufacturing jobs once fully operational. The Bioforge project will also help to re-shore industrial production capacity for chemicals that are largely produced in other countries such as China, boosting domestic supply chain resilience and stabilizing costs for industrial offtakers. As with all conditional commitments that LPO offers, it's important to note that while this announcement demonstrates an intent to finance the project, the expected U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) financing will only be issued pending the satisfaction of certain conditions—including final legal, contractual, technical, and financial requirements—that the conditional commitment specifies. LEARN MORE: • What is a Conditional Commitment & How is it Different from a Loan or Loan Guarantee? https://lnkd.in/gkhfhYHZ • Read about other LPO project announcements: https://lnkd.in/g23s_Uk4 • See how LPO can help support renewable fuels & chemical projects: https://lnkd.in/gBv4ja7G • Info about DOE's Clean Fuels & Products Earthshot: https://lnkd.in/eUaZijby #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingCleanProducts #Title17 #InvestingInAmerica #LPONews #ConditionalCommitment

Curious about LPO's project application pipeline? The latest monthly update on LPO application activity is in (see: https://lnkd.in/gqgGdu9e) and shows 213 active applications seeking a cumulative of over $287 billion in financing through May 31, 2024 for proposed clean energy, energy infrastructure reinvestment, advanced transportation, tribal energy, and CO2 transportation infrastructure projects across the country. This monthly report breaks down LPO's active applications across 14 broad technology sectors and their proposed project sites across eight geographic regions. See LPO's MAAR page for these breakdowns, examples of what types of technologies are included within each of the tech sector categories used for the reporting, and the current estimated remaining loan authority for each LPO financing program: Energy.gov/LPO/MAAR #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingCleanEnergy #FinancingEnergyInfrastructureReinvestment #FinancingAdvancedTransportation #FinancingTribalEnergy #FinancingCO2TransportationInfrastructure #LPOMAAR

REMINDER: Be sure to join experts from the LPO Tribal Energy Finance team tomorrow, Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at 1pm EDT for a free webinar hosted by the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) about how solar-plus-storage and microgrid projects can address the needs of Tribes' high-load facilities, how LPO can work with Tribes on such projects, and to answer audience questions about these projects. The webinar is free and public but registration is required: https://lnkd.in/gadaZUZv Tribal Energy Finance team members Paul Dearhouse and Charles Snow will discuss how LPO can support Tribal solar + storage & microgrid projects, and Dr. Emeka N. Obikwelu, PhD, PE, PMP will provide an overview of microgrids. The webinar is open to all and participants will have an opportunity to ask questions after the presentation. As the recently announced Viejas Microgrid project demonstrates (https://lnkd.in/ejUBqFiQ), solar + storage and microgrid projects for high-load facilities are great candidates for the LPO Tribal Energy financing. Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/gUH8yedY #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingRenewablesDeployment #FinancingSolar #FinancingStorage #FinancingMicrogrids #FinancingTribalEnergy #EnergySovereignty #IRA #ConditionalCommitment #NAFOA2024

A 30 day comment period has now opened for interested stakeholders to provide their input on LPO's recent request for information (RFI) related to expanded eligibility under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program. LPO is seeking feedback from all interested parties on issues related to eligibility criteria for additional modes of advanced transport eligible to receive ATVM financing, as provided for under the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Responses to the RFI will be accepted for 30 days after the RFI is published in the Federal Register (Friday, June 28, 2024): https://lnkd.in/g8jS-Hvq Specifically, this RFI seeks input on how DOE defines "increased performance" requirements for newly eligible "advanced technology vehicles" (ATV) categories—including trains or locomotives, maritime vessels, aircraft, and hyperloop technology—and focuses on the performance requirements and metrics for these expanded ATV modes, which may differ from those of on-road vehicles, the vehicle classes ATVM has exclusively supported to date. The RFI also seeks information on the necessary capital investments expected across each category’s supply chain; on planned investments in manufacturing from both supply- and demand side-perspectives; and on remaining technical, regulatory, and supply chain barriers to commercialization for each category. Finally, the RFI welcomes comments on how DOE might consider the broad goals of deploying clean energy, strengthening domestic manufacturing, investing in workers and communities, supporting the Justice40 initiative, and engaging in meaningful Tribal consultations when reviewing and evaluating applications for projects in the ATVM program. Interested parties may submit comments on the ATVM RFI via the Federal Register (https://lnkd.in/g8jS-Hvq) or via email at: lpofederalregistercomments@hq.doe.gov and include “ATVM Program RFI” in the subject line of the message. LEARN MORE: • About the ATVM program: Energy.gov/LPO/ATVM • Read the full blog piece announcing the RFI: https://lnkd.in/gTkpxWBf • Read, download, print, and comment on the RFI via the Federal Register: https://lnkd.in/g8jS-Hvq #DOELPO #FinancingAmericanEnergy #BridgeToBankability #DeployDeployDeploy #Liftoff #OpenForBusiness #BuiltInAmerica #FinancingInnovation #FinancingImpact #FinancingClimateSolutions #FinancingAdvancedVehicles #FinancingComponents #FinancingAdvancedTransportation #ATVM #LPOPrograms