DOE – LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to Aspen Aerogels to Produce Aerogel Blankets and Improve Electric Vehicle Battery Safety
As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced today a conditional commitment for a direct loan of up to $670.6 million to Aspen Aerogels Georgia, LLC (Aspen Aerogels). The loan, if finalized, will help finance the construction of an aerogel blanket manufacturing facility in Register, Georgia. Aspen’s PyroThin® aerogel thermal barriers are used as a protective layer within electric vehicle (EV) batteries, enabling EV manufacturers to achieve critical battery safety goals. Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to building a clean energy future and helping the United States meet expected future demand for EV adoption, which has seen unprecedented progress under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership.
In support of the administration’s efforts to deliver good-paying, high-quality jobs to communities across the country, this project is expected to create up to 550 construction jobs and 255 permanent, full-time operations jobs—boosting the regional economy. This project adds to the nearly 16 million jobs created since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office.
Operating at full capacity, the Georgia factory is expected to supply thermal barriers for over 2 million vehicle batteries annually. The incremental fuel savings is equivalent to removing over 5,000 internal combustion engine vehicles from the road each year and enables a reduction of over 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. The facility would significantly expand EV thermal barrier manufacturing capacity in North America, helping to reinforce the domestic EV supply chain while delivering new economic opportunities for workers in Georgia. This project also supports the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to expand and secure reliable, environmentally sustainable domestic supply chains key to reaching the country’s ambitious climate goals while reducing reliance on economic competitors like China.
Aspen’s PyroThin® platform offers ultra-thin and lightweight thermal barriers designed to slow or prevent thermal runaway propagation––a rare event in which a battery cell overheats and triggers neighboring cells, possibly resulting in a fire. PyroThin® is designed to offer a unique combination of thermal management, mechanical performance, and fire protection properties. In the event a battery cell fails, PyroThin® protects neighboring cells from being thermally triggered to avoid a significant fire.
Demand for aerogel thermal barriers such as PyroThin® is expected to increase significantly in both the United States and Europe as more stringent thermal mitigation and prevention standards are implemented. In 2022, a study from the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) about EV safety helped lead to FMVSS 305A, NHTSA’s new safety standards for EVs. PyroThin® allows manufacturers to exceed this standard. Aerogel thermal barriers can help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) reach their safety goals without sacrificing battery performance.
Aspen has entered into multi-year contracts with a number of major EV manufacturers and suppliers to produce aerogel blankets for EV batteries. These customers include General Motors, Toyota, Scania, Automotive Cells Company, and Audi.
Aspen is currently filling orders for contracted offtakers, and producing prototypes for potential offtakers, at its existing manufacturing plant in Rhode Island. The Georgia facility supported by this conditional commitment would help Aspen Aerogels fulfill expected demand increases and support new offtake agreements.
As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to build an equitable and inclusive clean energy future, LPO borrowers are expected to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP). CBPs ensure borrowers meaningfully engage with community and labor stakeholders to create good-paying jobs and improve the well-being of the local community and workers.
Aspen Aerogels expects a majority of its construction workforce to be part of a union, with many from the local pipefitter’s union, and is committed to hiring local residents. Aspen is working with Stephen Bailey Contractors, UA Local 188, for cranes and rigging needs. The company has also conducted outreach to the Statesboro Development Authority, Industry Group, Georgia Quick Start, and WorkSource Coastal (which provides registered apprenticeship programs). Aspen is also developing partnerships with Georgia Southern University, Ogeechee Technical College, and minority-serving institutions such as Savannah State University, a Historically Black University in Bulloch County, to recruit students for internships and co-op programs and train its workforce.
Today’s announcement supports the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. The Aspen Aerogels facility will be located in a disadvantaged community, as identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. The community faces one of the highest rates of expected agricultural losses and of barriers to transportation in the country. Aspen is seeking to work with local and federal partners on public electric transportation solutions to help its employees commute to the facility.
If finalized, the loan would be offered through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program, which provides loans to support U.S. manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles, qualifying components, and materials that improve fuel economy. With several recent ATVM projects in the last year, LPO is helping support the Biden-Harris administration’s EV adoption goals. This project reinforces the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing technologies that are critical to meeting the administration’s goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are zero-emissions vehicles.
While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to finance the project, DOE and the company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.
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DOE – LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to Aspen Aerogels to Produce Aerogel Blankets and Improve Electric Vehicle Battery Safety, source
