(Bloomberg) -- California startup Lyten said it has letters of interest for as much as $650 million in loans from the US Export-Import Bank to scale up lithium-sulfur battery production for customers in the Caribbean.
The batteries will be made in a factory near San Francisco that Lyten acquired last month from Northvolt AB, as well as a second, planned facility in Nevada. Lyten said it aims to finalize the loans by the end of January.
Advanced batteries have become a cornerstone technology of 21st Century life, powering laptops, smart phones, cars and even the electric grid. President Joe Biden made encouraging domestic battery production a top priority, arguing the US couldn’t afford to cede the industry to China, the world’s biggest battery maker.
Lyten’s sulfur-based batteries weigh less and have higher energy density than standard lithium-ion cells, according to the company. And unlike lithium-ion batteries, their performance improves in high temperatures, said Chief Sustainability Officer Keith Norman.
Lyten said it has several memorandums of understanding to supply batteries for stationary energy storage systems in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as other Caribbean nations that have growing populations needing more electricity. Batteries can be paired with solar power plants to soak up energy during the day and deliver it at night.
“They’re saying ‘the cheapest electrons are going to be solar, therefore I need to get batteries in place,’” Norman said in an interview. The US Export-Import Bank, he said, sees energy demand growing in tropical regions and wants American companies to supply the equipment. “They very much want the US to take the lead in support of that energy infrastructure.”
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