Industrial Automation Magazine India

Acquisition of the tech centre in Germany expedites EAM's plans to establish LFP cathode manufacturing plant in India, Asia's first outside of China.

Mumbai, February 2, 2024 – Epsilon Advanced Materials (EAM) finalised the acquisition of a lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) cathode active material technology centre in Moosburg, Germany, making it the first global company capable of providing manufacturers with both cathode and anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

With the purchase, EAM is poised to make India the first country in Asia outside of China to manufacture LFP cathode materials. EAM is scheduled to break ground on its facility in India in 2024 to build a large-scale customer qualification plant in 2025, which will scale up to 100,000 tonnes by 2030.

“This acquisition reaffirms our commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions to the evolving EV battery market,” said Vikram Handa, Managing Director of EAM. "The advanced technology centre in Moosburg strategically positions us to lead the industry in cathode material manufacturing.”

Acquiring the cathode active material technology center from Johnson Matthey solidifies EAM’s position as a global EV battery materials provider, with the potential to reshape the landscape of electric mobility by reducing the battery market’s reliance on China. Approximately 70% of cathode materials and 100% of LFP cathode for lithium-ion batteries are currently produced in China.

Epsilon Advanced Materials previously announced INR 9,000 crore investments for the establishment of anode battery materials manufacturing facility in Bellari, Karnataka, India. EAM also plans to build a $650 million graphite anode material manufacturing facility in Brunswick County, North Carolina, US and is investing Euro 600mn to develop a graphite processing facility in Vaasa, Finland.

"We are proud to announce that EAM is now ready to go to market with a proven high-performance cathode active material, marking a significant leap forward in our capabilities,” said EAM, CEO, Sunit Kapur. “Integrating the cathode expertise from the Moosburg technology center with our anode business uniquely positions us to deliver comprehensive solutions to customers, delivering anode and cathode to empower them to optimize the performance of their batteries.”

Battery manufacturers are increasingly transitioning to LFP cathode, which has a longer life span, offers improved discharge and charge efficiency, provides better performance in higher temperatures and is less expensive, compared to other cathode materials, such as nickel and cobalt, and it also is maintenance-free, extremely safe and lightweight.

 The Moosburg facility greatly reduces EAM’s technology development and scale-up timeframe. The center is equipped to produce LFP and lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode in small laboratory-scale batches to up pilot-scale material. It features a versatile pilot customer qualification plant designed to validate new materials and utilises a hydrothermal process that provides a cleaner metal processing solution, which results in a more environmentally friendly battery-metals supply chain.