Anthro Energy has broken ground on a more than $40 million advanced electrolyte manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky, with production scheduled to begin in late 2027.
The company said the plant would be the first large-scale, US-owned and operated advanced electrolyte production facility in the country. It will have annual capacity for approximately 12,000 tonnes of electrolyte, sufficient to support 25GWh of lithium-ion battery production.
The project involves converting an existing manufacturing site into Anthro’s first commercial-scale production plant. It is expected to create 110 permanent manufacturing and technical jobs, as well as supporting around 390 construction jobs.
Anthro has received a $24.9 million award from the US Department of Energy under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The project has also secured $18.4 million in investment tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act’s 48C Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit programme.
The plant will use inputs that comply with US foreign entity of concern restrictions. Its output is intended for batteries used in energy storage systems, defence equipment, consumer electronics, electric mobility and robotics.
Anthro has developed an injectable phase-change polymer electrolyte called Proteus. The material is introduced into a cell as a liquid, allowing it to work with existing lithium-ion cell production equipment, before changing phase inside the battery. The company says the technology can improve cell safety and mechanical strength while supporting higher-energy-density chemistries, including silicon-rich anodes.
A range of electrolytes will be manufactured at scale in Kentucky
The Louisville plant will initially be able to manufacture a range of electrolyte formulations. Anthro plans to increase the proportion of its own polymer electrolyte as customers complete testing and qualification work.
David Mackanic, CEO and co-founder of Anthro Energy, said: “As demand for advanced batteries continues to grow, rebuilding domestic manufacturing capacity for critical battery materials has become a national priority. Today’s groundbreaking represents much more than the start of construction; it marks the beginning of a new chapter for American battery manufacturing.
“By producing advanced electrolytes here in the United States, we’re helping build a more resilient domestic supply chain while enabling the next generation of safer, higher-performing batteries.”
Anthro was founded in 2021 as a spin-out from Stanford University. It has an existing production operation in California, but the Kentucky facility will take the company into commercial-scale electrolyte manufacturing.
