The Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL) share price is rocketing higher on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, the lithium developer's shares are up 12% to 94 cents.
Why is the Piedmont Lithium share price shooting higher?
Investors have been bidding the Piedmont Lithium share price higher today after the company made a hugely positive announcement.
According to the release, the company has been selected for a US$141.7 million (A$226 million) grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE).
This makes it one of the first set of projects to be funded by the US President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand domestic manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and materials and components currently imported from other countries.
Management notes that the funding will support the construction of the company's US$600 million (A$958 million) Tennessee Lithium project, which is aiming to expand the US supply of lithium hydroxide by 30,000 metric tonnes per year.
Piedmont Lithium's CEO, Keith Phillips, commented:
The U.S. government is putting investment dollars behind its policies to support energy independence and national security, and we are grateful to be selected to help spur critical, domestic development of the EV battery supply chain.
Over 80% of lithium hydroxide production today occurs in China. This grant will accelerate the development of the Tennessee Lithium project as a world-class lithium hydroxide operation, which is expected to more than double the domestic production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in the United States.
Though, it is worth highlighting that the funding will not be final until Piedmont Lithium and the DOE have agreed to the specific terms of the grant.
Incidentally, Piedmont Lithium isn't the only ASX share benefiting from this funding. Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) shares are also shooting higher today after being selected for an even larger grant from the US government.
