The U.S. Department of Energy announced February 22 that it had given preliminary approval to almost $710 million in loans for electric vehicle manufacturing projects.

According to Reuters, the larger of the two loan commitments announced went to a unit of the South Korean semiconductor company SK Siltron. This $544 million commitment will go towards expanding the organization’s plant in Bay City, Michigan that produces high-powered silicon carbide electronics used in EVs. The Department of Energy said in a statement that about 400 total jobs would be created as part of the SK Siltron plant expansion.

American Battery Solutions received conditional approval for another loan of $165.9 million, which will be used to grow the company’s battery pack assembly operations in Lake Orion, Michigan and Springboro, Ohio. That expansion project could create up to 460 jobs.

Jigar Shah, the director of the energy department's loan program office, noted that the clean technology sector tumbled from highs in 2021 and 2022 to "clearly a discipline year" in 2023.

Shah said that his office plans on leaning into “good risks,” including projects focused on producing the critical minerals needed to make batteries and other electronics, a sector that has been dominated by China.

"China is clearly oversupplying the market. Prices are down," Shah said. However, government advisers have said that the U.S. will likely experience a "short capacity of critical minerals in 2027."