POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution, a lithium joint venture between POSCO Holdings and Australia’s Pilbara Minerals, has placed an order with Japan’s W-Scope for core equipment used in lithium hydroxide production. The new equipment is expected to expand production capacity, improve yield, and strengthen competitiveness in the global market.
According to W-Scope on the 22nd, the company recently signed a supply agreement with POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution for “Bipolar Electrodialysis (BPED)” equipment and disclosed the deal on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The contract is worth approximately $7 million, with delivery scheduled by January 2026.
BPED plays a critical role in the lithium refining process by filtering impurities and is applied to the electrodialysis process developed by POSCO. It maximizes lithium extraction efficiency using the electrical properties of anion/cation exchange membranes and bipolar membranes. Compared to conventional chemical processes, it minimizes byproduct generation, enabling more environmentally friendly lithium production.
POSCO successfully localized BPED equipment and related components through joint development with W-Scope. The collaboration between the two companies dates back to 2021. W-Scope began developing ion-exchange membranes—a core component of BPED—in 2021 and completed the process in 2023, signing a supply agreement and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for further cooperation. The following year, in 2024, W-Scope began full-scale deliveries of BPED equipment to POSCO Holdings’ lithium hydroxide plant in Argentina.
This latest order follows the initial supply of BPED equipment to POSCO’s Argentina plant, demonstrating the continued expansion of the partnership. The two companies plan to further strengthen the competitiveness of POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution and POSCO’s overall lithium production through sustained collaboration.
POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution was established in 2022 as a lithium production joint venture between POSCO and Pilbara, with POSCO holding an 82% stake and Pilbara owning 18%. The company completed its first plant in Gwangyang’s Yulchon Industrial Complex in November 2023. A year later, in 2024, it finished construction on a second plant, bringing its total lithium production capacity to 43,000 tons annually—enough to produce batteries for approximately 1 million electric vehicles.
W-Scope, founded in 2005 by Korean entrepreneur Won-geun Choi, a former Samsung Electronics executive, is a manufacturer of secondary battery separator materials, including lithium-ion separators. The company has long-term supply agreements with Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution and also supplies separators to major clients such as A123 Systems, the largest U.S. automotive battery producer, and China’s Lishen.
