Coreshell wins $50M DOE grant to build first US silicon-anode battery gigafactory
What's the deal? Coreshell Technologies has been selected by the US Department of Energy's Manufacturing Deployment OfficeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for a $50 million grant under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The award will fund a San Leandro-based expansion into the first US gigafactory producing lithium-ion batteries with anodes made entirely from metallurgical silicon (MGS) instead of graphite.
What's the endgame? Coreshell's patented technology uses abundant MGS to replace graphite, a critical mineral for which China controls over 93% of global supply. Working with subrecipient AM Batteries, the two companies will build roughly 2 gigawatt-hours of electrode manufacturing capacity and 1.5 gigawatt-hours of cell assembly capacity. The project is expected to create more than 100 domestic jobs across production, technical, and administrative roles.
Why now? Secure, domestically sourced battery supply chains have become a national security priority for the US military, and the resulting cells will comply with the National Defense Authorization Act. Domestic producers, including Coreshell partner FerroglobeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, already make more than 100,000 tons of MGS a year, giving the approach a scalable US feedstock.
What did they say? "This award is about more than building a factory. It's about liberating the batteries that power America from a supply chain we don't control," said Jonathan Tan, chief executive officer and co-founder of Coreshell.
How does it work? AM Batteries will contribute its Powder-to-Electrode dry-coating process for cathode manufacturing, eliminating solvent-based wet coating and its recovery infrastructure. That approach reduces capital costs, operating costs, and safety risk while enabling higher-performance cells, the company said.
The signal: At $50 million, the grant ranks in the top 1% of all comparable awards on record. It reflects a broader US push to onshore battery production and cut dependence on Chinese graphite for both electric vehicles and defense applications.
Image credit: Coreshield Technologies
