KORE Power says it has received a conditional commitment for an $850 million loan from the US Department of Energy for its advanced battery cell manufacturing facility in Arizona, Kallanish reports.

The low-interest loan to the Idaho-based company would come from DOE’s Loan Programs Office under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan scheme.

The gigafactory to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and for battery storage projects will be located in Buckeye, west of Phoenix, Arizona. It would have a production capacity of 6 gigawatt-hours/year, enough to power 28,000 EVs annually.

The plant, known as KOREPlex, will cover 1.3 million square feet and house multiple production lines. It is planned to produce nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries and lithium-iron phosphate batteries. The facility sits on 214 acres.

Initial construction began late last year. Production is expected to begin in late 2024 or early 2025. The plant is projected to create 1,250 jobs.

The company says the gigafactory will be the first US lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility wholly owned by a US company. Arizona was selected over Florida and Texas. It provided KORE Power with a $63m tax cut.

The conditional federal loan from DOE is the seventh announced in the last year to boost EVs in the United States.