The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday it plans to loan Oregon-based Entek up to $1.2 billion to help finance a new factory in Indiana for lithium-ion battery separators.

The Biden administration has been working to boost the domestic supply chain for electric vehicles. It said the Indiana plant, in Terre Haute, would make a membrane that sits between a battery’s anode and cathode.

The Energy Department said Entek’s Indiana plant could help enable batteries for nearly two million midsize electric vehicles.

Entek announced its Indiana factory last year, forecasting more than 600 jobs when the project opens late in 2027. It plans to spend $1.5 billion altogether.

The company, which is headquartered in Lebanon and has a factory there, said readily available land and local incentives were central to its choice of Terre Haute. Indiana promised nearly $14 million in tax credits, grants and other subsidies.

Tuesday’s federal loan is conditioned on Entek satisfying government conditions and the project completing various procedural steps.

-- Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com.

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