Gov. Andy Beshear, center, speaks to Ascend Elements CEO Michael O’Kronley after a ground-breaking ceremony at Commerce Park II in Hopkinsville in October 2022. (Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
The company behind a planned battery recycling plant in Western Kentucky is receiving another $125 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a part of a broader federal effort to boost battery production and recycling for electric vehicles (EVs) and the electric grid.
Massachusetts-based Ascend Elements is receiving the federal award for its planned $65 million lithium-ion battery recycling plant it announced last year in partnership with South Korea-based SK ecoplant, which will be the majority owner in the plant. The companies at that time said the 100,000-square-foot recycling plant would shred 24,000 metric tons of EV batteries.
The companies planned to have the construction of the battery recycling plant completed by January 2025. An Ascend Elements spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the funding announcement.