Cement producer pauses factory construction after funding pullback

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Dive Transient:

• Chic Programs, a low-carbon cement producer, has paused development of its forthcoming manufacturing plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and laid off 10% of its workers, in response to an announcement from the corporate despatched to Building Dive.
• The information comes after the Division of Power canceled the company’s $87 million grant, which Chic obtained underneath former President Joe Biden in March 2024. 
• Due to the cancellation, the corporate skilled bother with its capital stack, and can thus contemplate different choices for the power, Chic stated. The grant was slated to fund 50% of the plant’s prices.

Dive Perception:

Chic anticipated the power, initially scheduled to open in early 2026, to provide as much as 30,000 tons yearly of low-carbon cement and create tons of of jobs through the development part of the mission, with an extra 70 to 90 ongoing roles as soon as the plant was operational. It was considered one of 33 tasks throughout greater than 20 states earmarked to obtain as much as $6 billion in funding.

However on Oct. 2, DOE introduced it had terminated 321 financial awards for 223 whole tasks, all in states that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris within the 2024 basic election, for a claimed financial savings of greater than $7.5 billion. The company used a evaluate course of that decided the canceled tasks didn’t meet the financial, nationwide safety or power safety requirements that might necessitate continued funding.

The funding clawback is yet one more instance of how the unsure funding surroundings has impacted the development trade. The Trump administration’s strikes all year long to pull back federal dollars from tasks throughout the development spectrum, compounded with the recent government shutdown, created pressure throughout the constructing trade.

Trying ahead, Chic stated it stays in conversations with the DOE relating to the potential of low-carbon cement and its use in onshoring and import discount, per the assertion.

“We’re actively working by way of a sturdy set of other scale-up plans and have a number of thrilling choices to deliver our first business plant on-line,” the corporate stated.