US battery storage is pivoting hard to LFP. Here’s what Samsung SDI’s US$1.36B deal and Trina’s 1GWh+ pipeline reveal about policy, supply chains, and grid-scale storage.
Most people focusing on green technology talk about solar and wind, but the real bottleneck in 2025 is batteries. Not in your phone or car—on the grid.
US utilities and developers are racing to add battery energy storage systems (BESS) faster than factories can supply them. That tension is exactly why two recent deals—Samsung SDI’s first US lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell contract and Trina Storage’s 1GWh+ agreement with Lightshift Energy—matter far beyond the headlines.
They’re a preview of how clean energy, policy, and global supply chains are about to collide in 2026–2028.
This post breaks down what these deals really signal for grid storage, why LFP batteries are becoming the default choice for large-scale green technology projects, and how developers and investors can navigate the shift.
LFP Is Becoming the Default Chemistry for US Grid Storage
The core story is simple: LFP batteries are taking over stationary storage in the US, and major suppliers are finally aligning their manufacturing to match.
Samsung SDI’s newly announced US deal is its first US LFP cell contract, valued at more than US$1.36 billion over three years starting in 2027. Production will be based on US-made prismatic LFP cells coming from retooled lines in its American factories.
Why this matters for green technology:
- LFP is safer and better suited to stationary batteries than many EV chemistries
- Domestic manufacturing is now tightly linked to tax credits and project economics
- Grid operators need predictable, bankable technology that can scale fast
If you’re planning storage for a solar or wind portfolio between 2026 and 2030, LFP is no longer just an option. It’s the baseline assumption.
Why LFP fits the future grid
For stationary energy storage, LFP hits the right balance:
- Safety: Lower thermal runaway risk compared with high-nickel chemistries
- Cycle life: High cycle counts make sense for daily cycling in solar + storage
- Cost: Uses no nickel or cobalt, generally cheaper per kWh
- Energy density tradeoff: Slightly lower density than some NMC/NCA cells, but that’s rarely a deal-breaker when you’re sitting on a substation pad instead of squeezing into a car chassis
Samsung SDI has historically focused on high-energy-density chemistries like NCA for EVs. Shifting to US-made LFP for BESS shows how strongly the storage market is pulling suppliers away from an EV-first mindset.
For green technology projects—microgrids, virtual power plants, community solar—this trend means safer deployments, simpler permitting, and more comfortable risk profiles for utilities and financiers.
Policy Is Rewiring the Battery Supply Chain: FEOC and Domestic Content
The US isn’t just nudging the market toward domestic, non-Chinese battery supply; it’s rewriting the rules of who can participate.
The key concept is FEOC: Foreign Entity of Concern. Under current and upcoming rules, if your project uses too much Chinese-origin battery content, you risk losing Investment Tax Credit (ITC) eligibility.
For utility-scale BESS, that’s brutal. The ITC can cover a major chunk of capex. Lose it, and many projects no longer pencil out.
Why South Korean manufacturers suddenly matter more
This is where companies like Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solution, and SK On have a real edge.
They are:
- Retooling existing US EV battery factories to produce ESS-focused cells
- Qualifying for domestic content benefits that Chinese cell suppliers can’t match under FEOC rules
- Filling the gap so that US demand for BESS doesn’t stall as Chinese supply is partially shut out by tax policy
One consultant recently argued that the announced US ESS manufacturing plans from Korean companies could almost cover domestic BESS demand within a few years. If that holds, it’s a huge win for the Inflation Reduction Act’s intent: build green technology supply chains at home.
Samsung SDI is positioning itself with one extra differentiator: it claims to be the only non-Chinese player currently able to supply US customers with prismatic LFP cells.
That matters because:
- Many system integrators and developers are already engineering around Chinese prismatic LFP form factors
- A drop-in, form-factor-compatible, non-Chinese alternative reduces redesign risk and cost
For developers, this isn’t just chemistry talk. It’s about staying on schedule, keeping designs bankable, and hitting commercial operation dates before interconnection queues and policy windows shift again.
Samsung SDI: From EV Headwinds to ESS Center Stage
Here’s the thing about Samsung SDI’s strategy: it’s less about chasing a single mega-customer and more about hedging away from slower EV growth.
The company has already said it’s putting its energy storage system (ESS) business at the centre of a turnaround strategy as EV demand cools relative to earlier expectations. Two moves stand out:
- 30GWh of annual ESS battery capacity in the US by the end of 2025
- Integrated BESS solutions manufactured in the US, not just cells
At the RE+ show in Las Vegas in September, Samsung SDI showed off:
- SBB 2.0 – an LFP-based integrated BESS product
- SBB 1.7 – a system based on NCA cells
These products are aimed squarely at utility-scale and large C&I applications.
Why system integrators will care about prismatic LFP
System integrators want two things: repeatability and risk reduction.
Samsung SDI is pitching three technical selling points:
- Prismatic cells that align with current Chinese-based designs
- Aluminium casings for improved mechanical robustness and safety
- No Thermal Propagation (No TP) architecture, using insulation layers between cells to contain failures
If you run a development or EPC team, this combination matters because it can:
- Shorten qualification cycles with insurers and independent engineers
- Simplify swapping suppliers without re-architecting your container
- Improve safety case documentation for permitting and fire authorities
There’s also a strong AI angle here for the broader Green Technology series: modern BESS platforms increasingly rely on AI-driven energy management systems to manage dispatch, degradation, and revenue stacking. Safe, predictable LFP hardware is exactly the kind of foundation those AI optimization tools need.
Trina & Lightshift: What 1GWh+ of Storage Says About the Market
If Samsung SDI represents the FEOC-compliant, domestic-content future, Trina Storage’s deal with Lightshift Energy shows how the market is using every available route while it still can.
Trina Storage has expanded a strategic partnership to supply more than 1GWh of BESS, including its Elementa 2.0 and Elementa 2.5 systems, to US developer–operator Lightshift Energy.
This follows Trina’s first US projects in 2024: four BESS sites in Massachusetts totalling 16MW/64MWh, also with Lightshift. Lightshift focuses on distribution-connected energy storage—projects that sit closer to customers and distribution utilities, not just at big transmission nodes.
Why this deal matters under FEOC pressure
Trina is Chinese-owned and will have to carefully manage how it serves the US market once FEOC rules really bite.
Right now, there are still:
- Safe harbour projects that pre-qualified for tax credits before FEOC thresholds fully apply
- Customers willing to trade ITC support for lower upfront costs if Chinese systems come in cheap enough
Trina is likely pursuing a three-way strategy:
- Serve safe-harbour projects with existing Chinese manufacturing
- Use third-party, non-FEOC-compliant cells for some US and non-China deployments
- Explore manufacturing or assembly in FEOC-compliant locations for long-term access to the US
For Lightshift, the calculus is clear: keep building projects now, lock in equipment for a multi-site pipeline, and build a strong track record in states like Massachusetts and Vermont before the next wave of competition.
From a green technology perspective, this is a classic example of policy lag: regulation is evolving, but for a few years the market will run on mixed-origin supply while domestic capacity ramps.
How Developers and Investors Should Respond Now
The reality? The path through 2025–2028 for BESS is simpler than it looks if you focus on a few core decisions.
1. Choose chemistry and form factor with 2035 in mind
If you’re locking in a 10–20 year asset, design as if LFP + prismatic will be your default supply option:
- Standardize on container and rack designs that support prismatic LFP
- Prioritize suppliers with a clear FEOC and domestic-content roadmap
- Make sure your techno-economic models reflect LFP’s cycle life and degradation, not legacy NMC assumptions
2. Treat FEOC and ITC like core financial inputs, not legal footnotes
Project economics in green technology are now inseparable from policy detail.
Practical moves:
- Maintain a supply chain map: where cells, modules, and containers are produced
- Stress-test project IRRs with and without ITC support if Chinese-origin content is involved
- For portfolios, blend FEOC-compliant assets with lower-capex, non-compliant ones to smooth overall returns
3. Build your digital layer early
Battery hardware is only half the story. AI-driven optimization, forecasting, and maintenance will decide who wins long term.
If you’re deploying BESS across multiple states or ISOs:
- Standardize data formats and telemetry across vendors
- Invest in software that supports multi-vendor, multi-chemistry fleets
- Use machine learning for degradation tracking, dispatch optimization, and warranty compliance
The more consistent your hardware (for example, converging on LFP), the more powerful and reliable those AI tools become.
4. Pick partners who can scale with you
Samsung SDI’s US$1.36 billion contract and Trina’s 1GWh+ agreement show the scale developers are now targeting. If you’re serious about building a long-term pipeline, single-project sourcing isn’t enough.
Look for:
- Vendors with multi-year capacity reservations and clear ramp schedules
- Flexible contracts that can evolve from cells to fully integrated solutions
- Alignment on safety, testing, and data access so digital tools can do their job
Where Green Technology Goes Next with BESS
Battery energy storage is quietly becoming the backbone of the clean energy buildout in the US. These Samsung SDI and Trina–Lightshift deals aren’t isolated stories—they’re signals that LFP-based, grid-scale storage is moving from early adoption to infrastructure status.
For anyone working in green technology—whether you’re building AI platforms for smart grids, financing utility-scale storage, or planning community solar projects—the message is clear:
- LFP is the chemistry to plan around
- Domestic, FEOC-compliant supply will increasingly define project economics
- AI and software will extract the real value from standardised, safe battery hardware
The next wave of innovation won’t just be about bigger factories or cheaper cells. It’ll be about how smartly we integrate storage into the grid, how intelligently software controls those assets, and how confidently capital flows into long-lived, low-carbon infrastructure.
If your 2026–2030 strategy doesn’t already treat BESS as a core pillar of your green technology roadmap, now’s the time to fix that.