Battery Material

Integrals Power has opened its new cathode materials pilot plant in Milton Keynes, England. The company will produce its own proprietary lithium iron phosphate and lithium manganese iron phosphate cathode materials. The new plant has an annual capacity of 20 tons and will primarily be used for evaluation by cell suppliers, battery and vehicle manufacturers. According to Integrals Power, its manufacturing process offers a lithium iron phosphate nanomaterial with 30 percent higher energy storage capacity. It is also claimed to offer better performance at extreme temperatures and better capacity retention over time. The company sources all of its raw materials from European and North American suppliers. According to the company, this ensures a purer and more efficient LFP and LMFP cathode material compared to cathode materials produced in China. Flexible Approach to Meet Demand The plant is designed to produce different qualities of LFP nanomaterials for different applications. This allows the product to be optimized for applications ranging from long-range electric vehicles to off-grid energy storage systems. The modularity of the production facility is intended to make it possible to expand the factory for higher volumes in the future. Integrals Power speaks of potential production capacities in the order of tens of thousands of tons.  Source:Info via e-mail

French mining company Eramet has inaugurated its Centenario lithium carbonate production plant in southwestern Argentina. The plant is operated by Eramine, a joint venture in which Eramet has a 50.1% stake and its partner Tsingshan has a 49.9% stake. The plant will extract lithium from saline brine and process it into battery grade lithium carbonate. Production is expected to begin in November 2024, with a ramp-up period through mid-2025. At full capacity, the plant is expected to produce 24,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year, which is equivalent to the demand of approximately 600,000 electric vehicles per year. The total investment is estimated by the company to be approximately US$870 million. High Efficiency through Direct Extraction The Centenario plant uses a proprietary direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. Eramet has tested this technology for five years under real-world conditions in a pilot plant at the Centenario site. In this process, a recovery rate of approximately 90% of the lithium contained in the brine was achieved. According to the company, a conventional natural evaporation process would only achieve a recovery rate of 40 to 50 percent. In addition, the DLE technology reduces production times from 12 to 18 months to one week. Potential Future Expansion In November 2023, Eramet’s Board of Directors gave conditional approval to the investment decision for a second plant in Centenario. This expansion is expected to produce an additional 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year. This approval is subject to the issuance of construction permits and the implementation of a new investment tax regime that would improve the economics and financing of Phase 2. Source:https://www.eramet.com/en/news/2024/07/eramet-inaugurates-its-direct-lithium-extraction-plant-in-argentina-becoming-the-first-european-company-to-produce-battery-grade-lithium-carbonate-at-industrial-scale/

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a conditional loan commitment of up to 1.2 billion US dollars to ENTEK Lithium Separators for a new plant in Indiana.

LG Energy Solution and Liontown Resources have deepened their collaboration with several agreements to increase production capacity and secure lithium supply.

CustomCells and Group14 have signed a supply agreement for the SCC55 silicon anode material worth more than 300 million US dollars, which is to extend beyond 2030.

Rock Tech Lithium has received funding commitments of up to 100 million euros from the Brandenburg state government and the Federal Railway Authority for its planned refinery in Germany.

South Korean battery manufacturer SK On has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with ExxonMobil for the supply of lithium in the United States.

BASF has officially canceled its investment in a nickel-cobalt refinery in Indonesia due to a significant change in the global availability of nickel from external sources.

South Korean company EcoPro BM is currently in negotiations with an undisclosed car manufacturer. The aim is to launch electric vehicles with sodium-ion batteries.

Sino Applied Technology (SiAT) has commissioned a plant in Taiwan that will produce 100 tons of silicon anodes and 1,000 tons of nanomaterials per year.