Visitors look around an SK On Co. booth at the InterBattery 2023 in Seoul on March 15, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean battery maker SK On Co. said Wednesday it has signed an agreement with a U.S. graphite company to develop battery-grade anode materials in an effort to bolster the sourcing of raw materials.
The joint development agreement (JDA), inked with Westwater Resources Inc., calls for the two companies to work together to develop high-performance anode materials tailored for SK On batteries, the Seoul-based battery-making unit of SK Group said in a release.
Anodes are one of the key components for electric vehicle (EV) batteries that determine the battery life span, charging speed and energy density. Graphite is the most widely used feedstock for commercial lithium-ion batteries.
SK On said it will consider using Westwater’s anode materials at its battery manufacturing facilities in the United States if the project yields desirable results.
SK On operates two EV battery plants in Commerce, Georgia, and is building two more EV battery plants in Kentucky and another in Tennessee under a joint venture with Ford Motor Co.
Westwater, a Colorado-headquartered company, is building a graphite processing plant in Alabama, with an aim to produce 7,500 metric tons of refined graphite a year.
It holds mineral rights to explore and potentially mine a 42,000-acre graphite deposit located in the same U.S. state.
The partnership will help SK On beef up the sourcing of the raw materials in North America to qualify for U.S. tax credits under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
The IRA gives up to $7,500 in tax credits to EV buyers whose vehicles were assembled in North America and made with minerals mined and processed in the United States or countries or regions that have free trade agreements with Washington.
(Yonhap)
