KORE Power receives conditional $850M loan from DOE for Buckeye facility

KORE Power Inc. has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for an $850 million loan to help fund its Buckeye facility.

The loan was approved under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program‎.

The loan will be used to fund the construction of Idaho-based KORE’s 1.3 million-square-foot advanced battery cell manufacturing facility in Buckeye. The facility will house multiple production ‎lines to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems in the United States, producing both nickel manganese cobalt and lithium-ion iron phosphate cells.

“We are focused on building a facility where American workers will build the battery cells that power our energy and mobility future,” said Lindsay Gorrill, founder and CEO of KORE, in a statement. “Domestic manufacturing will unlock the benefits of clean energy investments for U.S. workers across the supply chain.”

KORE serves utility, commercial, industrial, and e-mobility including EV manufacturers and fast-charging infrastructure companies. KORE recently announced offtake for energy storage projects in Arkansas and Illinois.

“This support from the LPO will help KORE expand its U.S. leadership in the rapidly growing energy storage and e-mobility sectors while growing our business, allowing us to power the energy transition with American products,” said KORE CFO Alexander Nickolatos.

Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly both applauded the loan approval, saying the move will bring new technology and jobs to the region.

The construction of the KOREPlex, which began civil works late last year, is expected to create 700 jobs. The facility itself is expected to create 1,250 direct jobs when operating at capacity.

KORE is working with local colleges and universities to establish training initiatives and programs for its workforce that will be needed to create a U.S.-made supply of batteries for EV and stationary energy storage.

With its initial lines fully operational, the KOREPlex will have an annual production capacity of 6 GWh of battery cells for customers in the e-mobility and energy storage space. KORE has the ability to further increase annual domestic production based on demand for lithium-ion batteries. The facility is expected to begin delivering product by the end of 2024 or early 2025.