Lithium-ion battery materials firm Ascend Elements has secured $320 million to build a precursor cathode active material (pCAM) manufacturing facility in Poland.
The plant will be the US firm’s first pCAM manufacturing facility in Europe and enable it to bring its Hydro-to-Cathode® technology to the region.
The technology produces nickel, manganese and cobalt pCAM material from spent lithium-ion cells. The firm hopes the plant will create a sustainable European circular battery materials supply chain.
The pCAM facility will be solely owned and operated by the Massachusetts-based company.
The cash subsidy of 1.22 billion Polish Zloty was offered by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in Poland.
The money is one of the largest grants ever offered by the Republic of Poland and is designed to support Europe’s transition to a net-zero economy. It’s part of the EU’s Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF).
Pawel Pudlowski, Vice President of the Management Board at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH), said battery sector projects are a key part of its investment portfolio.
Pudlowski said: “The project is one of the largest US investments in recent years, strengthening Poland’s role in the battery supply chain and supporting regional development, including technology development and cooperation with local educational institutions.”
In 2024, Ascend Elements and Elemental Strategic Metals established a joint venture to own and operate the AE Elemental JV battery recycling facility in Zawiercie, Poland.
Ascend also owns and operates one of North America’s largest battery recycling facilities in Georgia, US.
A new lithium recovery line at the Georgia plant is expected to produce up to 3,000 metric tons of Lithium Carbonate (Li₂CO₃) annually.
The company is building a Hydro-to-Cathode® pCAM manufacturing facility in Kentucky, US. When operational in late 2026, the facility is expected to be one of North America’s largest NMC pCAM manufacturing facilities.
Pic: Linh Austin, President and CEO at Ascend Elements, meets with Michal Jaros, Secretary of State in Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, in Warsaw, Poland.
