Aspen Aerogels receives conditional commitment from DOE for proposed loan

Aspen Aerogels announced that it has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, for a proposed loan of up to $670.6M under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program within DOE’s Loan Programs Office, or LPO, for financing the construction of its planned second aerogel manufacturing facility in Register, Georgia. Loan and Project Highlights: Aspen Aerogels Georgia, a subsidiary of Aspen Aerogels, is the intended borrower of the loan. The loan would be structured as project financing, providing for repayment commencing upon project commissioning. The interest rate will be the applicable U.S. Treasury Rate at the time of each cash draw. The Register Plant is designed to manufacture PyroThin aerogel blankets. Aspen’s PyroThin platform offers ultrathin and lightweight thermal barriers designed to help prevent thermal runaway propagation – an event in which a battery cell overheats and triggers neighboring cells, possibly resulting in a sudden fire – in batteries. Aspen’s PyroThin is designed to offer a unique combination of thermal management, mechanical performance, and fire protection properties. Aerogel thermal barriers have the potential to increase energy density of EV battery systems when compared to alternative thermal barrier products. The Register Plant has an initial estimated revenue capacity of $1.2B-1.6B, depending on product mix. The Register Plant project is expected to create up to 550 construction jobs and 255 permanent, full-time operations jobs.