Lion Energy and American Battery Factory Partner to Expand U.S. Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Production
Energy storage and management technology developer Lion Energy will integrate with manufacturer American Battery Factory to develop a nationwide U.S. network of gigawatt-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell production sites.
The agreements between Lion Energy and American Battery Factory (ABF) could eventually total more than 4.5 GWh of initial production capacity. The deal is in alignment with ABF’s recently announced offtake agreements for its LFP battery cell gigafactory in Tucson, Arizona.
LFP is a type of lithium-ion battery chemistry which uses iron phosphate as its cathode material. Each call can potentially store 205 watt hours of energy per kilogram.
“The strong customer demand we are experiencing, and our recently announced offtake agreements reinforce the importance of building a fully domestic battery supply chain,” said Tyler Hortin, CEO of Lion Energy. “Our strategic partnership and equity position in ABF reflect our confidence in their vision and strengthen our ability to bring American-made battery technology to market at scale.”
Global Market Insights forecasts that the worldwide LFP market could more than quadruple to $90 billion annually by 2034.
Lion Energy’s strategy is built around developing battery storage ecosystems for the commercial, industrial and residential markets. It is expanding its U.S. battery assembly capabilities through the AFB deal, with new production lines scheduled to come online in June of this year.
Battery metals recycling and refining firm Aqua Metals is acquiring Lion Energy in a deal announced only two months ago. The parent company intends to leverage Lion Energy’s expertise in battery technical and manufacturing capabilities to expand its business line across the entire battery lifecycle.
"ABF's success in securing over 4.5 GWh of offtake agreements demonstrates the accelerating demand for domestically manufactured battery cells and validates the strategic value of our pending acquisition of Lion Energy,” said Steve Cotton, CEO of Aqua Metals.
The U.S. energy storage industry added a record 57.6 GWh of newly installed capacity last year, according to an annual report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. The 2025 installations were 30% higher than the previous year, and the federal Energy Information Administration forecasts another record 86 GW installed in 2026.
Next-Gen Digital Infrastructure Needs Diverse Energy Playbook
New and Free E-Book from EnergyTech
Follow ET on LinkedIn
About the Author
EnergyTech Staff
Rod Walton is head of content for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.
Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
He can be reached at [email protected].
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.