WASHINGTON, June 22 Reuters The U.S. Energy Department plans to lend up to 9.2 billion to a joint venture of Ford Motor and South Korea39;s SK On to help it build three battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

The conditional commitment for the lowcost government loan for the BlueOval SK joint venture comes from the government39;s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing ATVM loan program.

SK is a unit of South Korea39;s SK Innovation. The joint venture is building three battery manufacturing facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee capable of collectively producing more than 120 gigawatt hours annually, the Energy Department said.

Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department39;s Loan Programs Office, said in an interview its goal is to have people choose to put these supply chains here in the United States, not in other countries, and to do them faster and more confidently here.

This is the sixth loan for battery supply chain projects from the ATVM program.

The plants will displace more than 455 million gallons of gasoline per year for the lifetime of the vehicles powered by the batteries they manufacture. The project is expected to create 5,000 construction jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky, and 7,500 operations jobs once the plants are up and running.

Major technology transitions have always been accelerated by collaboration between the public and private sectors, said Ford Treasurer Dave Webb.

BlueOval SK CEO Robert Rhee said the loan will be used to strengthen…