May Newsletter 2026
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Dear battery enthusiast, Welcome to Battery Associates’ May newsletter. We have summarised some of the month’s most relevant news, highlighting recent developments and updates in the battery space. B.A’s Battery Newsletter:
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Battery Industry Highlights In this section, we summarise relevant battery news from the past month. |
EnergyX and Compass Minerals advance planned 30,000 tpa lithium DLE project in Utah On 18 May 2026, EnergyX and Compass Minerals signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance Project Powder Hound, a planned commercial-scale direct lithium extraction (DLE) and refining facility near Utah's Great Salt Lake. This project targets lithium production of up to 30,000 tonnes per year across two phases and is expected to involve approximately USD 400 million in investment from EnergyX. The facility would utilize brine resources and existing infrastructure associated with Compass Minerals' Ogden operations alongside EnergyX's proprietary DLE technology, with definitive agreements remaining subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals. |
B.A Commentary: Direct lithium extraction has attracted significant industry attention in recent years, but large-scale commercial deployment remains limited. Projects such as Project Powder Hound are therefore being closely watched as the sector moves from technology validation toward commercial execution. By combining existing brine infrastructure with DLE technology, the development aims to accelerate project timelines and reduce some of the challenges associated with greenfield lithium projects. As more DLE projects advance, industry focus is likely to shift toward operating performance, recovery rates, and project economics at commercial scale. |
CATL Opens RMB 3 Billion Energy Storage Validation Facility in Xiamen On 28 May 2026, CATL commenced operations at its Energy Storage Validation Research Institute (ESVL) in Xiamen, China. Backed by an investment of approximately RMB 3 billion (USD 440 million), the facility is located on a 10-hectare site and is designed to provide testing and validation services for energy storage systems under real-world operating conditions. The site includes laboratories focused on grid integration, high-voltage safety, thermal safety, environmental reliability, and electromagnetic compatibility. CATL stated that the platform will be open to industry participants and support full-system and station-level validation before project deployment. |
B.A Commentary: As energy storage deployment accelerates globally, attention is increasingly shifting beyond battery manufacturing toward proving long-term system performance under real operating conditions. CATL's investment reflects the growing importance of validation infrastructure as utilities and developers deploy larger and more complex storage projects. The facility may also help establish common testing benchmarks across the industry, supporting wider adoption of energy storage as it becomes an increasingly important component of modern power systems. |
Graphite One secures Ohio site for Active Anode Materials facility and advances offtake discussions On 19 May 2026, Graphite One secured a site in Conneaut, Ohio, for its Active Anode Materials facility. The project targets an initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year by Q4 2027, with a planned second phase targeting 25,000 tonnes per year of graphitization capacity. Commercial-grade anode material samples have been delivered to EV manufacturers and battery companies, while discussions regarding potential offtake agreements remain ongoing. The facility is intended to process material from the company's Graphite Creek project in Alaska. |
B.A Commentary: Graphite processing remains a critical gap in North America's battery supply chain, where investment in battery manufacturing has outpaced the development of domestic anode material capacity. As a result, attention is increasingly shifting toward midstream processing assets that can convert graphite resources into battery-grade materials. Graphite One's progress reflects broader efforts to establish regional graphite supply chains capable of supporting battery production at scale. As EV and energy storage markets expand, anode material supply is becoming an increasingly important consideration along with lithium. |
Moment Energy to Build 1 GWh EV Battery Repurposing Facility in Vancouver On 13 May 2026, Moment Energy announced plans to build a battery repurposing facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, following a USD 40 million Series B funding round that increased the company's total capital raised to more than USD 100 million. The facility, expected to be operational by the end of June 2026, will repurpose retired electric vehicle batteries into stationary energy storage systems. Designed as a vertically integrated operation covering battery intake, testing, integration, and deployment, the site is targeted to reach 1 GWh of annual capacity by 2030 and create more than 100 skilled jobs. |
B.A Commentary: As growing supplies of retired EV batteries begin to emerge across North America, second-life applications are attracting increased attention as a means of expanding energy storage capacity and extending battery lifecycles. Rather than directing batteries immediately to recycling, repurposing can extract additional economic value from battery assets and provide storage systems for utilities, industrial users, and data centres. Large-scale repurposing facilities could also help establish a commercial pathway between EV retirement and material recovery. |
Watercycle Technologies and cylib Sign MoU for Graphite and Lithium Recovery On 19 May 2026, Watercycle Technologies and cylib have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the recovery of graphite and lithium from battery recycling operations in Europe. Under the agreement, Watercycle will evaluate the purchase and refining of graphite material from cylib’s Aachen demonstration facility starting in 2026, with the potential to scale to commercial volumes from future recycling plants. The companies will also assess the use of Watercycle’s Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallisation (DLEC) technology to recover lithium from process water generated during recycling, aiming to increase the recovery of valuable materials from end-of-life batteries. |
B.A Commentary: Graphite represents a substantial share of battery mass but has historically been underutilised within recycling value chains, while lithium recovery from process streams remains an area of ongoing optimisation. The collaboration between Watercycle and cylib reflects a broader industry effort to improve recycling economics by extracting value from a wider range of material streams. Such approaches could become increasingly important as Europe seeks to build a more self-sufficient battery materials supply chain and reduce dependence on imported graphite and lithium products. |
Company Member News |
Engineering Industries eXcellence Successful battery manufacturing requires a mixture of innovation and execution. From pilot lines to gigafactories, IndX helps battery manufacturers connect engineering, production, quality, and supply chain through Digital Thread, MES, AI, and Digital Twin strategies that accelerate scale-up, reduce bottlenecks, and turn battery ambition into real industrial performance. Discover more about what it takes to build, scale and lead successful battery manufacturing operations. Find more information here: Link |
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Thermo Fisher Scientific Across the battery lifecycle, from raw materials to cell manufacturing and recycling, chemistry, composition and impurities play a critical role in performance, safety and reliability. Understanding where analytical insight matters most helps teams make better decisions across R&D and manufacturing. Our new guide explains how analytical solutions support battery manufacturing and materials analysis across the entire lifecycle. Find more information here: Link |
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Ingun Reliable contact is essential for accurate battery testing. Introducing the BCP-690 series – designed for stable and precise OCV and AC-IR measurements even under high process tolerances and harsh production conditions. With low and consistent contact resistance, long service life and flexible integration options, the series supports reliable performance in demanding battery test environments. Learn more about the available variants:BCP-690: Link BCP-690 M: Link |
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Onboarding Session of the May-Jul 2026 BatteryMBA cohort |
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