European lithium ion battery players are partnering on an initiative to set up an industrial-sized cell factory to meet rising stationary energy storage demand.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting the initiative, which will receive a €500m investment.
Applied research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is responsible for the planning and construction of the factory. A suitable location will be selected in mid-2019.
Swiss battery producer and storage player Leclanche, which has a factory in Willstatt near Strasbourg in Germany, will bring industrial-scale cell manufacturing knowhow to the initiative.
The Battery Cell Research Production Centre also includes a research lab to rapidly translate advances in cell research and development to industrial production.
The centre is part of the Germany’s strategic drive to develop mass production of lithium ion cells to meet demand for stationary energy storage and electric vehicles, and compete with Asian cell manufacturers.
It is hoped that the cooperation and coordination between the consortium members will minimise operating and investment costs and accelerate the mass production of lithium ion cells.
In addition to Leclanche the consortium partners include BMZ Group, which makes lithium ion battery systems, and Customcells, which makes battery electrodes, cells and energy storage systems.
EAS is a producer of large-format lithium ion cells and lithium ion batteries and Liacon is setting up a lithium ion cell facility near Dresden, Germany, due online in 2019.
The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding setting out the deployment of the production lines, following the cell research and development phase.