Integrals Power is driving the creation of a cathode active material supply chain that is more resilient, transparent, and sustainable for use in (lithium iron phosphate) LFP batteries according to its official release.
Integrals Power has so far completed a number of significant strategic milestones, such as ordering the equipment required to construct a new UK pilot plant, which is anticipated to begin production this year, identifying raw material suppliers from the UK, Europe, and North America, and finishing a thorough techno-economic analysis to validate the cost benefits of its LFP materials like cathode active material at the pre-commercial phase against current sources of LFP and NCM.
Leading mineral development company First Phosphate is one of the main suppliers; under the terms of their joint development agreement, which was signed in 2023, First Phosphate’s high-purity phosphoric acid will be used in Integrals Power’s unique manufacturing process, which has been validated at the laboratory scale and will serve as the foundation of the new pilot plant.
Precursors made in collaboration with First Phosphate are a key component of the expansion strategy, and funds from the Advanced Propulsion Centre and Innovate UK have already provided an extra £2.8 million in financing to allow the facility to be scaled up in the near future.
Market Share of LFP Batteries In Electric Vehicle
Because LFP batteries are less expensive than Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) chemistries, which helps to lower the cost of EVs, and because they are more durable, having a longer cycle life and greater resistance to repeated fast charging, their market share in electric vehicle applications has already reached 40%2 and is predicted to rise further.
Being said, around 90% of the cathode active materials used in LFP batteries are produced in China. Integrals Power is constructing a supply chain independent of China for the global battery industry, realizing that regionalized and diversified supply chains are critical to sustaining the expansion of the lithium-ion battery market including cathode active material. By doing this, it will be possible to lessen its carbon impact, improve security and transparency, and address geopolitical concerns like import taxes on electric cars.
Integrals Power Founder and CEO, Behnam Hormozi, said: “Partnering with world-class suppliers who share our focus on sustainability and transparency is a fundamental part of our development process. Producing high-performance cathode active materials for the most demanding applications requires high-purity precursors, and that’s why we selected First Phosphate. We place just as much importance on the origin of our raw materials as we do on quality, and so production of the phosphoric acid in North America makes it ideally suited to our industrial strategy”
“Demand for Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries with sustainable and secure supply chains is increasing, which is why we plan to mine one of the world’s cleanest source of igneous phosphate rock – found in Canada – and use it to produce the phosphoric acid that will be a fundamental building block in that supply chain,” said First Phosphate CEO, John Passalacqua. “Our partnership with Integrals Power is accelerating the development of high-performance cathode active materials, and that’s something we’re incredibly proud of.”
1 International Energy Agency report: Trends in electric vehicle batteries
2 International Energt Agency report: Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions