Our Next Energy, a US company developing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) long-duration energy storage systems and EV batteries, has signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with Nano One Materials, a company producing lithium-ion battery cathode materials.

Under this partnership, the two companies have agreed to collaborate on the validation, qualification, and production of a North American supply of LFP cathode active materials (CAM). As such, the CAM is to be produced at Nano One’s facilities in Canada, Québec and will be potentially used for the production of LFP cells in Our Next Energy’s Aries and Gemini batteries. Furthermore, Nano One will also be repurposing the Candiac plant to use its patented One-Pot process during the pilot production of LFP CAM, with re-commissioning planned for Q3 2023.

Together the companies aim to qualify and validate the LFP CAM and potentially carry out a binding offtake agreement from Nano One’s future commercial production facility. 

Analyst QuickTake: Our Next Energy began production of its Aries LFP battery pack in early 2023 and also announced plans to launch ONE Circle, its first 20 GWh LFP battery cell factory in 2024 using the USD 300 million in funds it gained from its Series B funding round in February 2023 . The company gained unicorn status following this funding round with a valuation of USD 1.2 billion.