Süd-Chemie AG is investing approximately €60 million in the production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP), a high performance energy storage material used in batteries for electric vehicle drives and other applications. On the new site of its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Phostech Lithium. In Candiac, Quebec, the German group is constructing the first industrial production plant for LFP using a new, proprietary production process based-on wet chemistry.

Commercial production for series delivery will start in 2012 to reach a rate of 2,500 tons per year. Such volume, will allow the production of approximately 50,000 all-electric automobiles or, alternatively, up to 500,000 vehicles with hybrid drive per year. As a result of the high demand, Süd-Chemie is considerably expanding its production capacity for LFP based on its new wet chemistry production process a technology by which Süd-Chemie can already currently manufacture up to 300 tons of LFP per year at its site in Moosburg, Germany.

Besides electric vehicle drives, the LFP has great potential in high-performance storage batteries, e.g. for stabilizing peak supply or for storing photovoltaic electricity. In addition, LFP manufactured by Süd-Chemie is already successfully used in power tools, starter batteries for passenger vehicles, and electric scooters in Europa, Asia, and North America.