Europe’s first LFP battery factory opens its doors in Serbia

Europe’s first LFP battery factory has today been opened in Subotica, Serbia, by battery developer ElevenEs and backed by clean energy investor EIT Innoenergy.

The opening of the Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) industrial facility was announced today by Serbian company ElevenEs and is touted as the first industrial facility dedicated to LFP battery cell production in Europe.

The facility will specialise in producing high-quality LFP prismatic cells for use across a variety of applications, including electric cars, buses, trucks and energy storage systems.

According to ElevenEs, LFP is produced without nickel or cobalt, offering increased sustainability, safety and lower costs, as well as lasting three times as long as competing technologies.

The industrial facility will expand to become the company’s megafactory in 2024, producing 500MWh. The partnership was established in 2021.

The battery tech company also cites how the LFP cell market is expected to see significant growth as leading battery chemistry in the coming years, seeing over nine-fold growth in global sales over the past two years.

Europe ramping up local production

In Europe, there has been growing momentum to double down on producing critical raw materials needed for clean energy technologies, especially battery tech.

Chinese manufacturers have long held the majority of LFP production; expansion of the industry in Europe will be key in revolutionising batteries for the European market.

There have also been policy moves coming out of the EU to drive local production, such as the Green Deal Industrial Plan, of which the Critical Raw Materials Act will aim to diversify and enhance the resilience of EU critical raw material supply chains.

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On the new battery facility, Thore Sekkenes from the European Battery Alliance commented on its importance and how it will be “at the heart of the battery cell revolution.

“We’re delighted to support ElevenEs with this project as it will help to establish a complete domestic battery value chain in Europe, which is the next natural step in our work with the European Battery Alliance (EBA). The project aligns perfectly with the ambitions of EBA and the need for a clean energy transition and a global competitive industry.”

An expanding market

The unveiling of the first LFP battery factory comes at a time when the European battery market is forecast to experience a significant boom in demand.

According to Aurora Energy Research in an analysis released last week, the continent’s battery markets are expected to attract investment of over €70 billion ($77 billion) between now and 2050.

The vital role that batteries can play in the European power sector’s decarbonisation, states their research, is set to drive a surge in installations over the next few decades — installed grid-scale capacity will rise to 42GW by 2030, and at least 95GW by 2050, compared to the 5GW already installed across the continent.

Additionally, Aurora’s research indicates that to deploy batteries on the scale that Europe’s decarbonisation ambitions require, markets have to be attractive to investors; the five most attractive markets in Europe are, alphabetically, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland and Italy.