Latest news with #AscendElements
Business Insider
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Novonix appoints Michael O'Kronley as CEO
NOVONIX (NVX) announced the appointment of Michael O'Kronley as Chief Executive Officer, effective May 19, 2025. Most recently, O'Kronley served as Chief Executive Officer of Ascend Elements. Stay Ahead of the Market: Discover outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks. Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities using Tipranks' Stock Screener. Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>>
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Plans scaled back for producing EV battery materials in Hopkinsville as feds cancel grant
The construction site of Ascend Elements Apex I facility on July 9, 2024. The estimated $1 billion project will manufacture cathode active material for the EV battery industry at Commerce Park II on John Rivers Road between Hopkinsville and Pembroke. (Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown) Ascend Elements, the electric vehicle battery materials manufacturer that is constructing a plant in Hopkinsville's Commerce Park II, is scaling back some of its plans for production at the local facility. Ascend and the U.S. Department of Energy mutually agreed to cancel a $164 million federal grant for part of the manufacturing infrastructure at the company's Apex 1 facility, the company announced. Because of 'changing market conditions,' Ascend is canceling plans at the Hopkinsville facility for production of cathode active material, or CAM, a main component in lithium-ion batteries. However, it will produce precursor cathode active material, or pCAM, and lithium carbonate in Hopkinsville. A separate $316 million Department of Energy grant for the pCAM infrastructure at Ascend remains active, according to the company's statement. According to federal spending records, Ascend has received $205 million of that grant. Initially, company representatives and local and state economic development officials said the plant would employ 250 workers, based on a $310 million investment. However, days before a ground-breaking ceremony in October 2022, federal officials announced additional investments with $480 million in Department of Energy grant funds — $164 million for CAM manufacturing infrastructure and $316 million for pCAM manufacturing infrastructure. The grant came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed during President Joe Biden's administration. 'It's the largest economic development project in Christian County,' Gov. Andy Beshear said at the ground-breaking ceremony. 'And now … the largest investment in Western Kentucky.' Officials projected that future expansion could push the project to a $1 billion investment employing 400 or more people. It was not immediately clear how eliminating the CAM infrastructure line will affect the size of Ascend's workforce. '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,' said Roger Lin, vice president of government affairs at Ascend Elements. 'We are 100% 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's Apex 1 facility is projected to be operational in the third quarter of 2026. This story is republished from Hoptown Chronicle.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fire at Covington battery recycler sparks concerns among mayor, city leaders after 14 incidents
The mayor of Covington says a battery recycling plant, which was the scene of a fire Thursday, has been beset with problems and poses a risk to her community. The fire was the 14th incident firefighters responded to since the plant opened in March 2023, the city's fire chief said. 'I'm extremely worried about the ongoing problems,' Mayor Fleeta Baggett said about the Ascend Elements plant near Alcovy Road and I-20. Firefighters were called to a fire around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. It burned a truck trailer loaded with used lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles. Crews kept the flames from spreading into a warehouse filled with batteries waiting to be recycled. Covington Fire Chief Joe Doss said the fire engulfed the warehouse, I-20 would have to shut down and everyone within a mile radius of the plant would be under an evacuation order. TRENDING STORIES: DeKalb County's first female police chief off the job Mother accused of tying 'Baby India' in plastic bag, leaving her in woods to die pleads guilty Boss shoots, kills employee at Gwinnett McDonald's parking lot 'Just glad that this didn't turn out to be anything worse than what it already was,' he said. 'This is a major concern for the city of Covington and for the fire department.' He said 14 incidents in less than two years is concerning. 'And we are actively working with Ascend to try and figure out the best way to get this under control, and to alleviate or eliminate several of these causes,' he said. Plant manager Andrew Gardner said not all of the 14 incidents were fires, noting that every incident was contained and resulted in no injuries. 'What we're dealing with here has hazards,' he said. 'But we're gonna mitigate those hazards and we're gonna run a safe operation here at these facilities.' He said his company is working closely with city officials to prevent fires and other emergencies. 'It's a newer industry, so there are always challenges,' he said. 'That's why we're working closely with the fire departments and the communities and the regulatory authorities.' Doss said the fire Thursday was the biggest at the plant since it opened in March 2023. Company officials said the plant is one of the largest electric vehicle recycling plants in North America.
