Yuma County, Arizona has approved a solar-powered cobalt sulfate production facility. It will produce 7,000 tonnes of cobalt annually and utilize 28.4 MW of on-site solar capacity.
from pv magazine USA
EVelution Energy, an electric vehicle battery materials company, has received approval from the Yuma County Board of Supervisors to develop a solar-powered cobalt sulfate production facility in Yuma County, Arizona. It will be the first EV battery facility in the United States to generate renewable energy onsite.
The facility will produce 7,000 tons of cobalt per year and will require a 28.4 MW on-site solar array on 105 acres of the company’s 139-acre site in Yuma. The estimated power demand for the cobalt processing facility is expected to be around 6 MW, and during the day the company will be able to sell surplus power to the local utility Welton Mohawk Irrigation District. EVelution, told pv magazine USA.
EVelution plans to begin construction of the treatment facility in 2024. The company says it will be fully operational with 360 full-time employees by 2026.
The district’s main source of electricity now comes from hydroelectric power from Parker Dam, but drought has lowered water levels, Michelle Garcia said. As a result, the district has expressed interest in purchasing 6 MW of surplus power, and may acquire more in the future, Michel-Garcia said.
“We expect the surrounding farming communities to be able to tap into low-cost, locally-generated clean power,” he said, noting that construction of the EVelution facility is expected to cost about $200 million. Added.
The EV battery materials facility uses the atmospheric leaching process, a process that requires large amounts of peak energy to heat water. In a typical leaching facility, heating is usually done using natural gas or propane heaters, but EVelution uses solar power to heat the water and store it in large hot water storage tanks. It is planned, he explained Michel-Garcia. The tank will also store water that has been heated to keep the treatment facility running overnight, which will also reduce the district utility’s nighttime power requirement load, he said.
Michel-Garcia said EVelution will install about 24 MW (96 MWh) of battery capacity to manage the peak electricity sold to Wellton-Mohawk during the day and store excess sunlight to generate power at night. We plan to further reduce the requirements.
To interconnect the cobalt processing facility to the grid, EVelution will pay districts to build high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines to interconnect to regional substations. This requires an interconnection agreement with the district for the sale. of power, Michelle Garcia said.
The company is currently in talks to reach an offtake agreement for pricing surplus electricity from solar PV and pricing for overnight power supply, as well as a 34.5 kV transmission line for processing and interconnection. is also under consideration. Facilities, he said.
US company Michel-Garcia said EVelution will be the first company to build a carbon-neutral cobalt sulfate production facility with on-site power in the US. The company’s purpose is to fight climate change, boost U.S. manufacturing, and reduce economic dependence on other countries for EV battery materials.
About 70% of the world’s EV battery-grade cobalt sulfate now comes from China, with Finland and Indonesia producing most of the rest. EVelution Energy hopes to help supply 40 percent of the EV battery-grade cobalt sulfate needed for U.S.-made EVs by 2027, he said.
“What is interesting about this project is the confluence of various tax incentives that have recently become available in the US to enable green infrastructure projects like this,” he said.
EVelution Energy stands to recover costs from the solar investment tax credit for on-site solar installations, as well as section 45X of the Inflation Reduction Act.this Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (PTC) Provides tax credits of up to $31 billion for the production of cathode and anode materials used in lithium-ion batteries and advanced battery minerals sourced in the United States.
According to the company’s tax presentation, EVelution is in a position to recover either or both Sections 45X or 48C of the IRA, i.e., eligible advanced energy project credits. The Energy Project Credit is a one-time ITC representing 30% of the investment in a mineral processing facility used for EV batteries.
Prior to founding EVelution in October 2021, co-founder and CEO Navaid Alam was president of commodities trading firm Cobham Capital for 21 years and also served as an attorney at Clifford Chance and other firms. Michel-Garcia practiced law at various law firms for over 20 years before joining Cobham Capital where he worked for four years.
In October 2022, EVelution signed a Memorandum of Understanding to become a partner. Trafigura Supply and marketing of Cobalt Sulfate and Nickel Sulfate raw materials from our Arizona facility.
This content is copyrighted and may not be reused. If you would like to collaborate with us and reuse some of our content, please contact us at editors@pv-magazine.com.
