Falcon Energy Materials and Hensen to build an anode plant in Morocco

Falcon Energy Materials has announced the signing of an agreement with Hensen Graphite & Carbon Cooperate to ‘jointly develop an anode plant in Morocco’. As reported by Morocco World News, this plant will specialise specifically in the production of coated spherical purified graphite, also known as CSPG.   

This partnership will allow both companies to develop a ‘process flowsheet to produce CSPG that meets all end-user quality requirements while promoting industry-leading standards of transparency and sustainability,’ Falcon Energy said in a statement. 

The company also highlighted the company's determination to work with Tanger Med Engineering and other stakeholders to develop a preliminary economic assessment that meets the requirements and supports the financing and construction of the plant. 

The assessment ‘will allow Falcon to demonstrate the economic viability of the Anode Plant in Morocco and advance discussions with financing partners and local authorities,’ the company said, noting that the preliminary economic assessment will be released in the fourth quarter of 2024.  

This new partnership boosts Morocco's efforts to spearhead battery and lithium production thanks to its rich mineral resources. The Kingdom is positioned as a leader in the region in this regard and several foreign companies specialising in this sector have already begun to establish themselves in the territory.   

In this regard, last May, Moroccan scientist and engineer Rachid Yazami underlined the relevant potential of the North African country in the lithium battery industry, including the production and subsequent export of these batteries.

‘Morocco has an important potential and little by little, with scientific research and training provided by engineering schools and universities, Moroccan professionals are being prepared to support these projects in the future,’ he explained. 

In August, the Chinese group BTR, which specialises in lithium-ion battery materials, announced that it will establish a 366 million dollar battery plant in the Moroccan city of Tangier. 

With its new project, BTR aims to reach an annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries in order to improve service offerings to foreign customers. 

In June, another Chinese company, Gotion High-Tech, also signed an agreement with the Moroccan government to create a gigafactory in Kenitra to manufacture batteries for electric cars with an investment of around 1.2 billion euros.