Albemarle, Cummins receive tax credits under Biden’s clean energy drive

(Reuters) – Albemarle, Cummins and Siemens Energy are some companies that received tax credit under a section of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to details released on Friday by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Thirty five projects, focused on electrical grid enhancements, critical minerals, and electric vehicle components, among others, got a total of $1.93 billion in tax credits.

CONTEXT:

U.S. President Joe Biden signed the landmark $430-billion IRA into law in 2022. In March, $4 billion in tax credits were announced to over 100 projects to accelerate clean energy manufacturing under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit (48C).

These credits would provide up to 30% of the investment costs provided they meet U.S. wage and apprenticeship requirements.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:

Renewable and clean energy are key to meeting the climate goals set at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris aimed at limiting global warming.

Soaring financing and materials costs, coupled with a slow permitting process, have weighed on clean energy projects.

While U.S. investment in wind and solar power plants hit record levels last year, the dramatic rate of expansion still fell short of the level needed to meet the nation’s climate change goals.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Albemarle is to receive $9.4 million in credits to support the company’s lithium carbonate production at its Silver Peak Lithium Project facility in Nevada.

Cummins gets $10.6 million in credits for large-scale proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer manufacturing and testing at its Fridley, Minnesota plant.

Siemens Energy received $18.3 million in credits to build its first Large Power Transformer (LPT) manufacturing facility in the United States.

Other companies that previously reported credits under the program are MP Materials and Ballard Power Systems.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)