Skip to main content

Sulphur 417 Mar-Apr 2025

19 March 2025

Sulphur supply agreed for battery manufacturing

UNITED STATES

Sulphur supply agreed for battery manufacturing

Lyten’s battery plant in California
PHOTO: LYTEN

Lithium sulphur battery manufacturer Lyten has signed agreements with California Sulphur Company, at the Port of Los Angeles, and a Port of Stockton company to supply US domestically sourced, industrial-grade sulphur to Lyten’s manufacturing facilities in San Jose, CA, San Leandro, CA, and its recently announced Reno, NV, “gigafactory”.

Dan Cook, Lyten Co-Founder and CEO stated, “The US needs an alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Batteries are critical to the functioning of our energy grid, powering satellites, supporting our military, ensuring competitiveness of US companies, and powering new forms of transportation. Today, the supply of nearly every lithium-ion battery is controlled by a single country, creating an enormous vulnerability for the US. Lyten’s Lithium-Sulphur batteries use local materials, are fully manufactured in the US, and are cost competitive because of low-cost sulphur.”

The use of low-cost sulphur creates a battery cathode that is 40% lighter weight than lithium-ion, which requires nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC), and 70% lighter weight than Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), which currently lead the market.

Celina Mikolajczak, Lyten Chief Battery Technology Officer, said: “In every industry, weight is critically important. In satellites and drones, we can remove kilograms of weight that directly translates into more payload. In vehicles, we can remove hundreds of kilograms of weight that improves cost, safety, and range while reducing the impact on transportation infrastructure. In battery energy storage systems, we can literally remove tons of weight, dramatically simplifying installation and reducing infrastructure cost. In our observation, electrifying everything requires the lighter battery weights we are achieving with lithium-sulphur.”

Lyten signed a $650 million loan in December 2024 with the Export Import Bank of the US (EXIM) to fund the scale up and delivery of its Li-S batteries energy storage systems (BESS). Additionally, in 2024, Lyten announced its integration into Chrysler’s Halcyon Concept EV, plans to integrate lithium-sulphur into AEVEX Aerospace’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and the selection of its batteries for demonstration on-orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS), scheduled for launch later in 2025.

Latest in Commodity

Merdeka Battery to build new HPAL plant

Indonesian nickel miner Merdeka Battery Materials (MBMA) and partners have signed definitive agreements to construct a high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plant on the Morowali industrial park, Sulawesi. The unit will have a nameplate capacity of 90,000 t/a of contained nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP). PT Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt (SLNC) will construct and operate the plant adjacent to the existing HPAL plant operated by PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt (HNC). SLNC will source and process laterite nickel ore through a 20 year commercial agreement with MBMA's SCM mine, starting from the commissioning date. An ore preparation plant will be built at the SCM mine to enable ore transportation via pipeline to the SLNC processing plant at IMIP. The total combined investment for constructing SLNC (including interest incurred during construction) is expected to be approximately $1.8 billion according to Merdeka. Construction of the project commenced in January 2025 and is expected to reach commissioning stage within 18 months.

Liquid Wind to progress abandoned renewable methanol project

Liquid Wind has announced the development of a new 100,000 t/a green methanol project in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in collaboration with local energy company Övik Energi. Övik Energi’s combined heat and power plant in Örnsköldsvik was due to be the site of Ørsted’s FlagshipONE project, which was slated to produce 55,000 t/a of green methanol from 2025. A final investment decision (FID) was made in late 2022 when Ørsted bought out Liquid Wind’s 55% stake in the project, but the Danish offshore wind company chose to discontinue FlagshipONE in August 2024.

Samsung to build UAE’s first methanol plant

UAE-based chemicals and transition fuels hub TA’ZIZ has awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract worth $1.7 billion to engineering company Samsung E&A to build the UAE’s first methanol plant. The facility will be located at the Al Ruwais Industrial City in the western part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. It is projected to produce 1.8 million t/a green methanol, powered by clean energy from the grid, with the plant scheduled for completion in 2028.

ExxonMobil and Trammo sign low carbon ammonia offtake agreement

Trammo, Inc. and ExxonMobil signed a heads of agreement to advance discussions for Trammo’s long-term offtake of 300-500,000 t/a of low-carbon ammonia from ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas facility. The facility is expected to produce virtually carbon-free ‘blue’ hydrogen with approximately 98% of CO2 removed, and will use this low-carbon hydrogen to make low-carbon ammonia. Trammo, a leading international physical commodity trader, will leverage its market and logistical expertise to deliver and sell in Europe and worldwide this unique low-carbon ammonia for use as fertilizer feedstock and for other key industrial applications.

Casale to license renewable ammonia plant

Casale is partnering with Indian renewable energy company Avaada Group to develop a 1,500 t/d green ammonia plant in Gopalpur, Odisha. This represents India’s largest grassroots green ammonia facility to date, and will be powered entirely by renewable energy. Casale will provide the ammonia process license, basic engineering package, proprietary equipment, and detailed engineering review, ensuring the facility operates at the highest levels of efficiency and sustainability. The plant will use Casale’s FlexAMMONIA technology, part of the FLEXIGREEN® portfolio.