Sungrow in Talks With Samsung SDI for Three-Year LFP Cell Supply From US Plant

Sungrow is in talks with Samsung SDI over a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell supply deal that would run three years, according to reporting by The Elec. The Elec put annual volumes at "several gigawatt-hours" and the total contract value "in the trillions of Korean won".

The cells would come from StarPlus Energy, the Samsung SDI joint venture with Stellantis in Indiana, in the United States. Samsung SDI is converting part of the plant's electric vehicle battery capacity to stationary storage, and has said prismatic LFP mass production there begins in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Feedstock for that line is already contracted. Samsung SDI signed a three-year deal in March to buy KRW 1.6 trillion (USD 1.1 billion) of LFP cathode materials from L&F, with supply starting in 2027.

For Sungrow, the arrangement would secure cells made inside the United States from a partner's plant. Sungrow has said publicly that it has no current plan to set up its own manufacturing operations in the country.

The two firms have built together before, agreeing in 2014 to form a joint venture aimed at the Chinese energy storage market and opening a storage manufacturing operation in Hefei, Anhui province, in 2016.

The Elec's reporting was picked up by pv magazine and ESS News.