First Phosphate and its partners start co-operation for LFP production in North America

The production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material and LFP battery cells in North America is moving closer as First Phosphate (CSE: PHOS, FSE: KD0, WKN: A3DQCH) has entered into a multi-party agreement with its partners American Battery Factory and Integrals Power to establish these production facilities in North America.

The co-operation between First Phosphate, UK-based Integrals Power and Utah-based American Battery Factory will be intensified as the three partners commit to an intensified collaboration with the ultimate goal of producing LFP cathode active material and battery cells in North America.

The initiative is entitled LFP Project America. It is both a claim and a programme, as the new production facilities are intended to cover American Battery Factory’s demand for lithium iron phosphate up to 40,000 tonnes per year by 2028.

The LFP Project America aims to localise the entire production supply chain of lithium iron phosphate cathode material, LFF battery cells and storage devices for the battery storage sector in North America. The agreements have been designed to be mutually beneficial.

The Americas LFP project is being implemented by First Phosphate, American Battery Factory and Integrals Power. However, the partners will invite other suppliers to participate in order to support the initiative and make it a success.

A joint pilot project as the first important milestone

The initial aim is to document the industrial maturity of the manufacturing process to the market in a pilot project. To this end, the three partners will work together to develop a pilot series of lithium iron phosphate CAM. The pilot plant, which has yet to be built, will produce lithium iron phosphate material that is suitable for use in the LFP battery cells manufactured by American Battery Factory. First Phosphate will provide the necessary raw materials, while the process technology used will be supplied by Integrals Power.

If the pilot phase can be successfully completed, the plan is to subsequently build an industrial-scale supply plant large enough to supply the entire North American region with the required lithium iron phosphate products. The three partners will also consider integrated plants that cover the entire value chain from the raw materials to the battery cells as the end product. Whether these will be developed and which other partners may be integrated into the project will be the subject of further discussions, which the three partners have already agreed on.

In any case, there is a need for the corresponding systems, as American Battery Factory anticipates a sustained annual demand for lithium iron phosphate CAM from 2026, which is expected to rise to 40,000 tonnes by 2028. In addition to its first LFP battery production facility planned for Tuscon, Arizona, American Battery Factory intends to build additional facilities throughout North America. Each of them is expected to require a similar amount of lithium iron phosphate CAM.

A win-win situation for the battery sector

Together with American Battery Factory and Integrals Power, First Phosphate will therefore initiate a homologation process in which First Phosphate’s raw materials and the lithium iron phosphate CAM produced by LFP Project America will be directly integrated into American Battery Factory’s battery cells and battery storage products and tested for the end user.

“LFP Project America is an example of how suppliers from across the supply chain are coming together to build the LFP battery sector in North America,” said John Passalacqua, CEO of First Phosphate, at the launch of the collaboration. “We need to go from raw materials to finished battery product if we want to build an independent supply chain in North America.”

First Phosphate will play its part in the success of the project, as the company has access to clean anorthosite phosphate rock in the Canadian province of Québec. This will be processed into a large quantity of purified battery-grade phosphoric acid to support the LFP project in the Americas.