Transcript: A $9 Billion Deal to Supercharge US Cleantech
Read a transcript of the conversation between podcast host Akshat Rathi and Jigar Shah, head of the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.
Jigar Shah, director of the loan office at the US Department of Energy.
Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/BloombergTesla is now a household name, but few people have heard of one of its key backers: the Loan Programs Office.
Part of the US Department of Energy, the Loan Programs Office is tasked with awarding government-backed loans to clean-tech. In 2010, it loaned Tesla $465 million to help it weather the fallout from the financial crisis and build out the production of the Model S. With the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act last summer, the Loan Programs Office was supercharged. It now has more than $400 billion to give out.
Jigar Shah is the director of the Loan Programs Office, and joins Zero to give an exclusive on the organization's biggest ever loan: $9.2 billion to BlueOval SK, a joint venture between US auto giant Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On. The money will be used to build battery factories for Ford’s growing line of electric vehicles. Jigar explains why he chose to make this loan, how it fits into President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle ambitions, and how he deals with the risks of investing in pioneering technologies.