Li-Cycle receives conditional commitment for $375 million loan from U.S. Department of Energy
Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. has received a conditional commitment for a $375 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO), through its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program.
The conditional commitment follows extensive DOE technical, market, financial, and legal due diligence and marks another milestone endorsing Li-Cycle's development of a commercial hydrometallurgical resource recovery facility in North America, located near Rochester, New York, in what Li-Cycle is calling the Rochester Hub. Li-Cycle says that this is the first conditional commitment from the DOE ATVM program for a sustainable pure-play battery materials recycling company and the program's main support for the lithium-ion battery recycling industry.
The Rochester Hub is expected to become a U.S. domestic source of battery-grade materials, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Receiving the conditional commitment is a significant step in the lending process and reflects the DOE's intent to finance the project; however, the loan remains subject to the documentation of long-form agreements and certain conditions will have to be satisfied prior to closing, which is currently expected to occur in the second quarter of 2023. The loan will have a term of up to 12 years from financial close, and interest on the loan will be the 10-year U.S. Treasury Rates from the date of each advance for the loan.
"We are delighted to receive the first conditional commitment from the DOE LPO for a resource recovery facility, as it further supports our efforts to create a sustainable domestic supply chain of battery-grade materials in the U.S. and to grow American jobs," says Ajay Kochhar, Li-Cycle's co-founder, president, and chief executive officer.
