04 Jun 2026 13:10 UTC
Lithium start-up EnergyX plans ‘Battery Mecca’ in Texas
➤ The facility, a joint venture with Wildcat Discovery Technologies, will produce 15,000 metric tonnes annually and seeks substantial capital investment, including a Department of Energy grant, to overcome higher US production costs compared to China.
➤ The project aims to challenge China's dominance in the battery supply chain, which currently controls a significant majority of global lithium refining and cathode production.
➤ EnergyX, a lithium start-up backed by General Motors, is establishing a lithium iron phosphate cathode factory in Texas to bolster domestic battery component manufacturing.
This article is an on-site version of our Energy Source newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every Tuesday and Thursday. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters
If the energy crisis in the Middle East is not solved, the world will be facing a “dark scenario”, the OECD said in a warning reported by my colleague Sam Fleming.
The Paris-based organisation said a “prolonged disruption” to energy flows extending into the second half of 2027 would cut global growth to 2.1 per cent this year and 1.8 per cent next year. Major central banks such as the US Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates to curtail inflation, the OECD added.
Meanwhile, in an example of how the global race to secure access to critical minerals is heating up, Camilla Hodgson and I uncovered that Chinese scrap dealers are quietly stockpiling tungsten from scrap yards across the US. The metal is essential for bullets and missiles and has been in heavy demand since the Iran war started.
In today’s newsletter, we look at a lithium company’s push to bring cathode manufacturing to Texas. Thanks for reading, Martha
EnergyX envisions ‘Battery Mecca’ in Texas
General Motors-backed lithium industry start-up EnergyX is building a lithium iron phosphate cathode factory in east Texas, the company told Energy Source.
The project aims to boost domestic manufacturing capacity of the critical component used in batteries, electric vehicles and weaponry such as drones.
Lithium iron phosphate cathodes, or LFP cathodes, are the part of a battery that helps store and release energy. Unlike some other lithium-ion battery cathodes, which use metals such as nickel or cobalt, LFP cathodes are made with lithium, iron and phosphate. That makes them cheaper, safer and longer-lasting, though they usually store less energy.
The factory, to be built in partnership with battery materials company Wildcat Discovery Technologies, will produce 15,000 metric tonnes a year and create 150 permanent jobs.
The project seeks to disrupt China’s dominance of the battery supply chain. The country controls 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the world’s lithium chemical refining and processing capacity, and 85 per cent to 90 per cent of global cathode manufacturing.
“The United States remains heavily dependent on foreign supply,” said Mark Gresser, chief executive of Wildcat. “This project is designed to help close that gap.”
The facility will be located in Hooks, Texas, next to EnergyX’s Project Lonestar lithium plant and the Red River Army Depot, where a drone production facility is being developed. It could open as early as 2028, the companies said.
EnergyX will supply the majority of the lithium carbonate at a discount from market rates and with a price floor and ceiling — cutting out lithium’s price volatility. According to data from S&P Global, lithium prices hit a record low in summer 2025, before surging to $17,500 per metric tonne in February — the highest level since January 2024.
The company controls about 50,000 acres of lithium mining rights through its Lonestar plant. The so-called Smackover region it is located in, spanning central Texas to the Florida Panhandle, has lithium deposits comparable to Chile, one of the world’s largest lithium producers.
“The location is really critical,” said Teague Egan, CEO at EnergyX. “It’s part of the bigger vision I’m calling Battery Mecca.”
Lithium can be extracted from rocks or from brine. In traditional brine projects, companies pump the liquid to the surface and leave it in evaporation ponds, where the sun removes the water and leaves behind the lithium. Direct lithium extraction, or DLE — which EnergyX is developing — skips the evaporation step by using filters, membranes or chemical materials to pull lithium directly from the brine.
The company has capacity to produce 250 metric tonnes per year of lithium carbonate at its demonstration plant.
DLE is a difficult process to commercialise, given that the technology has to work across sites where chemistry can vary massively. Miners must be able to extract lithium at a high recovery rate at a cost that customers will accept.
The project is being developed through a 50/50 joint venture, with costs shared equally between EnergyX and Wildcat. The companies estimate it will require about $230mn of capital.
This fundraising will be of a different kind than EnergyX has leaned on previously, having raised $70mn from mom and pop investors in 2024.
“We’re talking infrastructure funds, people who are comfortable with single-digit annual returns,” said Egan.
But the companies are hoping that the Department of Energy will pitch in, having applied for a $500mn grant to expand US critical minerals processing and battery manufacturing and recycling.
In order to firm up the economics, the joint venture will need a reliable customer base.
Securing offtakers has historically been challenging, especially for mines and facilities that have yet to start production at scale. An FT analysis found 17 of 32 deals signed between miners and carmakers for lithium, nickel and cobalt between 2020 and 2024 were scrapped, renegotiated or delayed.
Egan said the companies are having “discreet” conversations with potential customers but warns that high cathode production costs will be a challenge.
“Building something in the US is so much more expensive than China,” he said. “There’s so much more red tape and regulation, and equipment and labour costs more.”
Job moves
• Eric Heintz has joined Crux as head of investments from M&T Bank.
• Tim Mackellar has been appointed chief executive of Bison Resources.
• USA Rare Earth’s chief global policy officer Gregory Bowman joined the US Department of Defense’s science, technology and innovation board.
Power Points
• Seven states are suing the Trump administration over its nearly $1bn payment to TotalEnergies for pulling out of offshore wind in the US.
• South West Water received a record £1.85mn fine for supplying water unfit for human consumption in south Devon.
• The United Arab Emirates is planning its first multi-fuel pipeline to allow exports of petrol, diesel and jet fuel to continue when the Strait of Hormuz is impassable.
Energy Source is written and edited by Jamie Smyth, Martha Muir, Alexandra White, Rachel Millard, Malcolm Moore, Ryohtaroh Satoh and Stephanie Findlay with support from the FT’s global team of reporters. Reach us at energy.source@ft.com and follow us on X at @FTEnergy. Catch up on past editions of the newsletter here.
Recommended newsletters for you
Moral Money — Our unmissable newsletter on socially responsible business, sustainable finance and more. Sign up here
The Climate Graphic: Explained — Understanding the most important climate data of the week. Sign up here
Categories rationale: The article focuses on the establishment of a new manufacturing facility for battery components (real assets), highlighting its location in Texas as a strategic move to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains, particularly China (emerging hub in terms of manufacturing dominance). EnergyX, as a key player in this initiative, falls under tokenization platforms or infrastructure providers.Characteristics justification: The article discusses a new venture aiming to disrupt a dominant market (China's) and build domestic capacity, indicating a degree of novelty and potential market impact (entropy: 0.75). While generally positive about the venture's goals, there are underlying concerns about higher US production costs and historical deal failures in the sector, suggesting some uncertainty and a slightly positive but cautious sentiment (sentiment: 0.3). The information about lithium price volatility and the comparison to China's dominance suggests some level of established knowledge but with new developments (staleness: 0.4). The focus on a specific company's strategic move and its implications for a critical industry makes it highly relevant (relevance: 0.8). There is uncertainty regarding the project's funding, cost competitiveness, and the success of securing offtakers (uncertainty: 0.6).Tag relevance: The selected tags represent the key entities (EnergyX, Wildcat Discovery Technologies), the core commodity (lithium), the location (Texas), the specific product (cathode manufacturing), its applications (electric vehicles), the broader market context (supply chain, China dominance), the technology (direct lithium extraction), and the company's vision (Battery Mecca).asset-types: others
rwa: true
entropy: 0.75
sentiment: 0.3
staleness: 0.4
relevance: 0.8
uncertainty: 0.6RWATimes slug: ft-lithium-start-up-energy-x-plans-battery-mecca-in-texas-3504369392