Braidy seeks additional funding for proposed aluminum plant

The investment group heading the construction of a proposed aluminum rolling mill and melt shop near Ashland, Kentucky, has reportedly applied for an $800 million loan from a United States Department of Energy (DOE) agency.

In a lengthy article on the website of the Louisville (Kentucky) Courier Journal, the newspaper’s Morgan Watkins outlines the efforts of Braidy Industries to obtain the loan from the U.S. DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) direct loan program.

That program “lends money to eligible businesses that make certain kinds of fuel-efficient cars or components,” according to the newspaper. ATVM’s history includes an initial loan in 2009 that contributed to Ford Motor Co. investing in some retooling at its Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plant.

Watkins also reports, “Since then, only four other businesses — including automakers Nissan and Tesla — have received financing from the ATVM program. The two other businesses eventually shut down without repaying millions in taxpayer money they borrowed.”

For Braidy, an ATVM loan of up to $800 million would go a long way in helping it procure the $1.7 billion it says it needs to build the aluminum rolling mill, which is being planned to make lightweight aluminum sheet for the automotive market. One investor in the company is the commonwealth of Kentucky, with its government having invested $15 million in Braidy Industries.

Braidy Industries CEO Craig Bouchard has indicated to the Courier Journal that it has received a “letter of substantial completion” from the ATVM regarding its loan approval.

Defenders of the ATVM loan program contacted by the newspaper say it can provide affordable financing, such financing can attract additional private sector investors and DOE loan programs overall have a default rate of less than 3 percent.