Fastmarkets Global Lithium, Battery & Critical Materials

The briefing examines active lithium projects in Texas and the Smackover Formation, including project progress, realistic paths and timelines to commercial production, technical milestones, investment and project economics, capital requirements, lithium pricing and demand, and routes to offtake. It also addresses policy and responsible development, permitting, local delivery, and how proposed production timelines and project economics compare with wider North American supply. The panel “Texas and the Smackover Formation: The Scale of the US Lithium Opportunity” explores the shift from resource potential to commercial delivery. Fastmarkets analysts will examine the lithium price outlook, domestic demand, and market conditions affecting new supply.

A Washington briefing on US critical minerals strategy, combining policy priorities for 2027 with Fastmarkets’ market outlook. Topics include strengthening domestic mining, processing and refining capacity; supply-chain gaps and overseas processing dependence; the effects of industrial policy, government support and market conditions on investment and commercial development; and the influence of defense and aerospace demand on sourcing, procurement and security of supply. The program also addresses trade relationships, geopolitical risk, international competition, prices, supply and demand, project economics, and the implications of policy and market developments for investment and procurement. Competitor attendance is subject to approval.

Brings together storage developers, tax equity investors, capital and debt providers, tax advisors, market analysts, and offtakers. Topics include contract negotiations, revenue streams and costs; tax equity and credit markets; FEOC and Material Assistance; augmentation; M&A and merchant transactions; procurement plans, supply-chain risk, and domestic equipment availability; opportunities across ISO, RTO, and bilateral markets; extracting value from projects and portfolios; and adapting storage finance to political risk and new market signals.

Conference themes include battery chemistry and cell innovation; EV systems and powertrain integration; battery manufacturing and supply-chain industrialization; energy storage and grid applications; and advanced air mobility and electrified aviation. Listed technical topics include solid-state commercialization, silicon anodes, sodium-ion, advanced materials, gigafactory execution, manufacturing scale-up, critical minerals, localization, quality, battery safety, recycling, and grid interconnection. The expo covers battery manufacturing, EV powertrains, thermal management, energy storage, components, testing, and charging infrastructure.

The program examines North American advanced battery markets and technologies across grid-connected storage, electric vehicles, heavy-duty transportation, data centers, robotics, defense, and aerospace. Market briefings address light- and heavy-duty EVs, data centers and the grid, robotics, aerospace and defense applications, energy materials, and battery recycling and second-life markets. Plenary sessions cover data-center energy storage, foreign battery manufacturers in the U.S., and EV manufacturers navigating battery supply-chain gaps. Impact Sessions address non-lithium and emerging chemistries; defense batteries and domestic supply-chain security; truck, rail, and transit electrification; battery materials and the missing pCAM/CAM/AAM midstream; battery-technology financing; U.S. battery-materials mining; robotics and aerospace; domestic battery-manufacturing equipment supply chains; next-generation batteries; Chinese battery and technology supply relationships; and digitalization and AI in battery manufacturing. Other program elements include Community Action Labs, member company and research-institution presentations, and a closing roundtable on the future of battery technology. Featured program speakers include Bob Galyen, NAATBatt International’s Chief Technology Officer; M. Stanley Whittingham, NAATBatt’s Chief Science Officer and Nobel laureate; and David Hochschild, Chair of the California Energy Commission.

The meeting spans materials science research in quantum materials, energy and sustainability, semiconductors, nanomaterials, soft materials and biomaterials, and structural and functional materials. Symposia address sustainable materials chemistry and processing for lithium and earth-abundant batteries; sodium-ion storage; materials, characterization and manufacturing for solid-state batteries; next-generation EV battery materials; hydrogen storage and transmission; and electrochemical conversion of CO₂ and nitrogen compounds into sustainable products. Other topics include AI-driven materials design and autonomous science, chiplet architectures, 2D materials for microelectronics and neuromorphic computing, additive manufacturing across length scales, high-entropy materials, and resilient materials for fission and fusion reactors. Featured programming includes a plenary on critical elements from urban mines and decarbonization of the metal sectors, a keynote on progress and challenges toward an inertial fusion energy future, and sessions on bioelectronics translation and silicon photonics, optical connectivity, sensing, data centers and commercialization.

The program includes symposia on AI, machine learning, and data science across electrochemical systems; energy storage and battery materials; and the translation of battery materials into manufacturable electrodes and cells. Battery topics include fast charging, electrolyte and interphase engineering in lithium- and sodium-ion batteries, solid-state battery benchmarking, and beyond-lithium-ion chemistries such as lithium-sulfur, lithium-air, sodium-ion, magnesium and multivalent-ion, and redox-flow batteries. Manufacturing themes include scalable synthesis, coating and drying, in-line metrology, quality assurance, pilot-line scale-up, cost models, reliability testing, and raw-material processing. Other symposia address industrial electrochemistry and process intensification, including reactor scale-up, techno-economic analysis, life-cycle analysis, commercialization, and hybrid process systems; water electrolysis, hydrogen, renewable fuels, and fuel cells; and carbon nanostructures for energy conversion and storage. Additional listed topics include corrosion, semiconductor materials and processing, and electrochemical systems for energy conversion.

The expo covers battery manufacturing, EV powertrains, thermal management, and energy storage. Conference topics include battery chemistry, manufacturing scalability, EV integration, sustainability, and energy storage.

An intensive workshop on projected electricity demand and expanding the supply of natural resources used to generate power. Topics include natural gas, geothermal development and repurposing oil and gas assets; hydrogen, uranium, lithium and critical minerals; and water, environmental, storage, site-selection and regulatory considerations. Program discussions cover grid shortfalls and raw materials for electricity generation, solutions for increasing electricity supply, geothermal, and technology including ORC, sensors and small nuclear reactors. Other sessions address AI prompts for grid and behind-the-meter planning; lithium direct lithium extraction (DLE) and hydrogen technologies; regulatory and legislative factors affecting geothermal, critical minerals, low-carbon energy, grids and data centers; and mining and oil-and-gas intersections, including near-surface imaging and copper for electricity transmission. The program also includes an AI prompt clinic focused on water, the environment, science and regulations.