The company declined to comment for other parts of this story. 'This change in technology increases the likelihood of success and accelerates the speed to market,' Berkshire spokesperson Dan Winters said. In a statement to Reuters, Berkshire said it had planned to develop 'a first-of-its-kind demonstration plant to produce lithium hydroxide' but 'subsequently decided to use a commercially proven process' to produce lithium carbonate instead. The Energy Department's March 9, 2022, letter telling Berkshire it was rescinding the grant said the move was 'the result of a mutual decision' and would not bar Berkshire from applying for future federal funding.īerkshire, however, is facing problems extracting lithium from Salton Sea geothermal brines, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the operation who declined to be identified so as not to jeopardize future relationships with the company. Thirteen months of negotiations between the company and the government, which Reuters is reporting for the first time, stalled as Berkshire sought control over patents, changes to technology, and whether it could one day sell the lithium business, even after the government helped build it, the emails and documents show.Īsked about the grant withdrawal, a Biden administration official said there are 'inherent risks' in funding research and development projects, and noted that several companies including Berkshire are still working on U.S. While the sum of money was relatively small for the mining world and the Salton Sea grant was for a pilot project, the tale of Berkshire's tangle with Washington shows how Biden's plan to shift the economy away from fossil fuels faces some significant technical and business challenges. The withdrawal of the grant has not been previously reported.

Two weeks later, though, the Energy Department rescinded the grant, according to emails and documents obtained by Reuters, after Berkshire requested what the Energy Department called a 'material change' to its lithium project. 'We're going to set America up to lead the world by building a clean energy economy and a clean energy future,' Biden said at the February event, which was billed as a critical minerals roundtable.Īlicia Knapp, chief executive of Berkshire's BHE Renewables division, told Biden that Berkshire was 'working to secure the most abundant source of lithium in the United States using the world's most environmentally friendly technology.'

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