As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a 544 million dollars loan (481.5 million dollars of principal and 62.5 million dollars of capitalized interest) to SK Siltron CCS, LLC to expand American manufacturing of high-quality silicon carbide (SiC) wafers for electric vehicle (EV) power electronics.
SiC semiconductors are designed for high-power and high-voltage applications, where efficiency and reliability are highly valuable.
They are critical components of EV drivetrains, including inverters, and electrical distribution systems like onboard chargers and DC-to-DC converters.
The project—located at SK Siltron CSS facility in Bay City, Michigan—is expected to be among the top-five manufacturers of SiC wafers globally, boosting America’s manufacturing competitiveness and expanding the nation’s global leadership in the clean energy technologies of the future.
In support of this Administration’s efforts to deliver good-paying, high-quality jobs to communities across the country, this project is expected to create up to 200 construction jobs in the build-out phase and up to 200 skilled, good-paying operations jobs at full production.
What is the importance of this project for e-mobility?
EV sales have more than quadrupled since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, with more than four and a half million EVs now on the road.
EVs contain about twice as many semiconductors as internal combustion engine cars.
The adoption of high-voltage architectures will drive demand for SiC semiconductors globally as the EV market is expected to grow significantly in the years to come.
SiC semiconductors allow for higher efficiency and higher voltage, which can mean faster charging times and up to 10% longer range when compared with traditional silicon semiconductors.
However, semiconductors made from high-quality SiC wafers are required to maximize these performance improvements. High-quality wafer demand is expected to rise with EV sales, which saw unprecedented progress in 2023.
The LPO-supported SK Siltron CCS project will help address this critical gap, which in turn will create high-quality jobs and deliver new economic opportunities to surrounding communities.
SK Siltron CSS sells directly to device manufacturers which make power electronics used across many industries, not just EVs and high-speed EV charging.
Market demand is currently being driven by transportation, next generation cellular (i.e., 5G), artificial intelligence and cloud computing end uses. SiC is also becoming increasingly common in other mid to high voltage applications such as solar photovoltaic, inverters and DC converters, and industrial chargers and adapters.
More about the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda
President Biden and Vice President Harris’ Investing in America agenda supports the onshoring and re-shoring of domestic manufacturing technologies that are critical to meeting the Administration’s goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are zero-emissions units.
The Administration also has a comprehensive strategy to build a safer, more sustainable transportation system and slash all greenhouse emissions from the transportation sector by 2050.
The SK Siltron CCS project will help achieve these goals by building a more resilient semiconductor supply chain and growing a diverse domestic semiconductor workforce to give American industry and workers across the nation a competitive edge on the world stage.
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to build an equitable and inclusive clean energy future, LPO borrowers must develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP) that ensures meaningful community and labor engagement, improves the well-being of residents and workers, and incorporates strong labor standards during construction, operations, and throughout the life of the loan guarantee.
SK Siltron CCS will partner with Delta College, less than a mile from the project site, through the Michigan New Jobs Training Program to train local workers for success in SiC wafer manufacturing.
Further, the project site is located near disadvantaged communities, as identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.
It is expected to benefit local communities and local workers in line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
The loan is offered through LPO’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program, which supports domestic manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles, qualifying components, and materials that improve fuel economy.
With several recent ATVM projects in the last year, LPO is helping support the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious clean energy and climate goals.
Across all LPO’s programs, DOE has attracted 210 applications for projects across the country totaling over 303.5 billion dollars in requested loans and loan guarantees, as of October 2024.
Read more: Global eMobility transition “politically divided”: What are the causes and consequences?
