Novonix has signed a five-year offtake agreement with Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo for a minimum of 32,000 tonnes of high-performance synthetic graphite material from its Riverside production facility in North America.
The start of commercial supply is targeted for 2027, subject to Novonix achieving certain milestones related to final mass production qualification and compliance criteria.
The company must also secure financing commitments for the production facilities that will supply the product to PowerCo.
Battery cell production
Established by Volkswagen in 2022, PowerCo oversees international factory operations, advances in cell technology and vertical integration of the battery value chain.
The offtake deal is expected to assist PowerCo in its mission to ramp up global battery cell production, advance cell technology and achieve vertical integration of the battery value chain.
It follows an agreement signed in May between the two companies under which Novonix would develop, test and analyse synthetic graphite anode materials tailored to PowerCo’s requirements.
Large-scale site
Novonix’s Riverside facility in Tennessee is poised to become North America’s first large-scale site dedicated to the production of high-performance synthetic graphite for the battery sector.
It is slated to begin commercial production in 2025, with plans to grow output to 20,000tpa to meet current customer commitments.
The facility is being funded by a US$150 million grant from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.
The project has also received a US$156m investment tax credit under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program to support the production of critical battery materials.
Stellantis agreement
Novonix signed a binding offtake agreement earlier this month with automotive company Stellantis NV for up to 115,000t of high-performance synthetic graphite material from Riverside that will be supplied to Stellantis’ cell manufacturing partners in the US over a six-year term starting in 2026.
Novonix is also working on plans to build a second US synthetic graphite production facility with an initial capacity of 30,000tpa and plans to expand this to 75,000tpa.
The company is in discussions for a loan under the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program to support the facility’s construction.
Current plans call for total production to increase to at least 150,000tpa of synthetic graphite material to accommodate anticipated demand from Novonix customers.
