U.S. DOE and Ascend Elements Revise Strategic Funding Agreement

In a significant shift in its Kentucky operations, Ascend Elements, a leading battery recycler based in Westborough, Massachusetts, has announced that it will return a $164 million grant to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), initially awarded to support the manufacturing of Cathode Active Material (CAM) at its Apex 1 facility in Hopkinsville. According to Ascend, this decision comes in light of “changing market conditions,” which have led the company to reconsider its original plans.

Roger Lin, Ascend Elements’ Vice President of Government Affairs, stated that the company had carefully reviewed the current market demands and determined that the demand for CAM had diminished, while the need for precursor cathode active material (pCAM) had surged. As a result, Ascend has reached a mutual agreement with the DOE to cancel the CAM manufacturing initiative, while the $316 million DOE grant for the development of pCAM infrastructure remains active.

“We are grateful to the U.S. DOE for selecting Ascend Elements to receive this funding, but current market conditions do not support advancement of the CAM project at Apex 1,” Lin remarked. “We are 100 percent committed to completing construction of the Apex 1 campus in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but the facility will only produce pCAM and lithium carbonate, a critical mineral. We’re just not seeing significant market demand for CAM right now, but we have buyers lined up to purchase sustainable, domestically produced pCAM and lithium carbonate.”

Ascend Elements initially received a total of $480 million in funding from two DOE grants in October 2022 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. By voluntarily returning the CAM grant, Ascend aims to free up federal resources that can be reallocated to other strategic projects by the DOE.

The company emphasized that the shift in focus to pCAM is a strategic response to the growing market demand for this material, which is expected to face a 400-kiloton annual shortfall in North America by 2030. Notably, the majority of global pCAM production is currently concentrated in China, and Ascend’s Apex 1 facility is expected to be North America’s first commercial-scale pCAM producer once operational in the third quarter of 2026.

Ascend sees the Apex 1 facility as a key contributor to bolstering U.S. energy independence. “This project squarely aligns with the administration’s stated goal of increasing domestic production of critical materials. We are committed to creating good jobs in Kentucky, providing a domestic supply of lithium-ion battery materials and enhancing U.S. energy independence.” Lin added.