Dow said March 25 it plans to build an ethylene derivatives production facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast to support the lithium-ion battery supply chain.
The company will receive up to $95 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to support the project. The Dow project is among 33 decarbonization initiatives the U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded with up to $6 billion in total funds. Seven companies within the chemicals and refining sector received a portion of the DOE award.
The company plans to capture and use about 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year at the plant, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). The amount of CO2 collected would account for more than 90% of the carbon dioxide from the ethylene oxide manufacturing process, Dow said.
“This project represents a leading U.S. demonstration to capture and utilize carbon dioxide from ethylene oxide manufacturing,” the DOE said in a news release announcing the grants. “This project would also provide supply chain resilience by establishing a domestic manufacturing base for the rapidly expanding U.S. electric vehicle and power storage markets, critical pieces of the energy transition.”
The project is receiving support from customers, including electric vehicle OEMs and electrolyte manufacturers, the company said.
Dow is looking to increase supply of carbonate solvents, a critical material in electrolyte composition within lithium-ion batteries. Electrolytes charge and discharge batteries by transferring ions between electrodes.
The announcement is among Dow’s latest moves to build on its growth within the domestic electric vehicle and energy-storage markets. In April 2022, the company said it would expand alkoxylation capacity in the U.S. and Europe.
