Nano One’s One-Pot process underpins the licensing strategy the company is now extending into regional markets outside China
(Image courtesy of Nano One)
Nano One Materials has reaffirmed the strategy behind its push into lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode production outside China, confirming it will license its One-Pot process technology into regional markets through joint development vehicles it calls DevCos. The Vancouver-based company points to accelerating LFP demand from energy storage, electric vehicle and defense customers, alongside government policy in Canada, the US and Europe that ranges from outright localisation requirements, like US defense procurement rules, to a broader push for diversified regional supply chains.
Why localised LFP cathode production is gaining urgency
China’s dominance of LFP cathode manufacturing is the backdrop to Nano One’s strategy. The IEA’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 put China’s share of both LFP cathode material and LFP battery cell production at over 98%, a level of concentration higher than for nickel-based chemistries. Nano One says LFP chemistries accounted for roughly 60% of global lithium-ion battery cell demand in 2025, around 1.0 TWh, forecasts annual demand outside China reaching 2.1 TWh by 2035, equivalent to about 168 new 25,000 tonne per annum cathode plants, and puts LFP’s share of energy storage installations at more than 90%, with European demand increasingly driven by battery-electric vehicles. BEV registrations across 17 European markets rose 33.7% in the first half of 2026, according to E-Mobility Europe.
Policy is turning LFP demand into localisation rules
Several policy shifts are reinforcing that trend. In the US, Section 842 of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act bars the Department of Defense from procuring advanced batteries containing components owned, sourced, refined or produced by a foreign entity of concern, phased in from January 2028 for new acquisitions through to January 2031 for existing programmes. Nano One notes this sits alongside the retained 45X manufacturing credit of US$35 per kWh, continued EU and G7 commitments to diversified battery supply chains, and IEA warnings that Chinese export controls announced in October 2025 put downstream cell production outside China at risk. Its One-Pot process, which makes cathode material directly from non-sulfate metals or oxide feedstock rather than Chinese-dominated precursor materials, is pitched as well suited to that environment.
Nano One’s capital-light LFP licensing strategy
Rather than building and owning plants outright, Nano One plans to pair its technology with regional partners, customers and capital through DevCo joint ventures, contributing technology, engineering and services while partners provide construction capital and offtake. Under its Design One Build Many strategy, it licenses the One-Pot process through paths ranging from a direct technology licence to a fully integrated package, earning licensing fees and royalties plus support services from pre-FID development through commissioning and ongoing operations. CEO Alex Holmes framed the approach as a way to convert international policy momentum into recurring licensing and services revenue as Candiac advances and DevCos are established.
Candiac expansion advances the LFP strategy
The strategy is already being tested at Nano One’s Candiac facility in Quebec, where detailed engineering on an expansion to roughly 800 tonnes per annum was 85% complete as of mid-July 2026, with commissioning targeted for the first half of 2027. The existing 200 tonne per annum pilot line is already supporting customer sampling and product qualification, and the company says small-volume commercial supply discussions are under way with defense and energy storage customers, with initial agreements targeted by the end of 2026.
Nano One says it expects to provide further updates in the coming months, including on its supply chain qualification work and the establishment of its DevCo vehicles, as it looks to convert the current mix of demand growth and policy support into signed regional partnerships.
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