Joe Biden’s administration is rushing to award billions in loans to cleantech companies in a bid to secure the US president’s green legacy before Donald Trump’s inauguration next month.

The Department of Energy’s financing arm, the Loan Programs Office, has committed more than $38bn — half of all awards issued during Biden’s presidency — since the November 5 election.

Five of the new loan commitments are among the largest awards in the history of the programme, including a $15bn loan to utility Pacific Gas & Electric for infrastructure investments, the largest on record, a $7.54bn loan to Samsung and Stellantis’s battery plant in Indiana, a $6.57bn loan to electric vehicle start-up Rivian for a factory in Georgia and a $4.9bn loan to renewables giant Invenergy to build a transmission line.