Entek officially receives $1.2B DOE loan for Terre Haute plant
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Oregon-based Entek announced Friday it has received a direct loan of up to $1.2 billion for the construction of its battery separator manufacturing facility in Terre Haute.
The 1.4 million-square-foot facility, construction for which began in September 2023, is expected to bring 635 new jobs by the end of 2027.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office made a commitment for the loan in July, but the company was required to meet certain conditions before the loan was officially awarded.
Entek said the loan will “substantially finance” the new facility in Terre Haute.
When operational, the facility will produce battery separators for lithium-ion battery manufacturers across the country, primarily for use in electric vehicles. The company is already a contracted supplier to Idaho-based Kore Power, which will use the battery separators at its facility in Arizona.
A battery separator is a micro-porous membrane that goes between the positive and negative side, or the anode and cathode, that insulates the batteries from shorting out, Entek CEO Larry Keith told Inside INdiana Business in March 2023.
“Entek is a technology company at its core with expertise in equipment design and fabrication, process technologies, and materials science,” Chief Technology Officer Richard Pekala said in a news release. “These competencies make Entek the right company to lead the U.S. expansion of separator component manufacturing.”
In addition to the full-time jobs at the facility, the project is expected to create more than 760 construction jobs.
Production is expected to begin in the second half of 2025, and officials anticipate the plant to be fully operational in 2028.