SK on Co., Ford Score $9.2B Energy Dept. Funding Boost for BlueOval City

In a major move to enhance U.S. auto production, the U.S. Department of Energy has granted SK on Co. and Ford's BlueOval City a hefty $9.2 billion policy support fund, bolstering the Tennessee-based automotive assembly mega campus and promoting domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies.

SK on and Ford Motor are running BlueOval City together, and it was revealed that the new funding would give them a stronger base for production capacity in the United States. They have snatched up KRW12 trillion or about $9.2 billion in policy support funding from the energy department of the U.S. government.

According to The Korea Economic Daily, SK on confirmed that BlueOval SK received conditional approval to take $9.2 billion in policy funding under the U.S. DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan program. The JV group's borrowing rate will be based on the usual amount applied by the U.S. Treasury, which could be as low as its 10-year rate.

An official of SK energy said that the borrowing was made possible by the US Department of Energy's affirmative assessment of BlueOval SK's production capacity, which is based on SK on's advanced technology. Meanwhile, BlueOval SK is set to finalize the primary contract for the $9.2 billion loan by the end of this year at the earliest time.

"The U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office today announced a conditional commitment for a loan of up to $9.2 billion to BlueOval SK LLC for the construction of three manufacturing plants to produce batteries for Ford Motor Company's future Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles (EVs)," the U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement.

The DOE added, "This effort supports President Biden's Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing of technologies that are critical to reaching the clean energy and transportation future."

Photo by: Ford Motor Media Center