With site preparation now complete, Lithium Americas is estimating a three-year construction period at Thacker Pass, with the mine and plant producing at full capacity in 2028.

Currently under construction, the Viejas microgrid will combine 15 MW of solar with 38 MWh of long-duration, non-lithium storage and is the first loan the LPO has made under its long-dormant Tribal Energy Financing Program.

DOE's Crane and Shah said all grant and loan applications are evaluated and carefully vetted by federal career staff and agency engineers and experts.

Coming off the Earth’s hottest summer on record, the conference zeroed in on the public-private partnerships needed to optimize the impact of every penny of the billions in clean energy funding in the IIJA and IRA.

DOE gets business friendly. “The private sector has heard that DOE wants to hear their opinions and is willing to be responsive to what they have to say," said LPO Director Jigar Shah.