Industry news

Belgium’s Umicore is to acquire Freeport Cobalt’s cobalt refining and cathode precursor activities in Finland as an “important step” toward expanding the company’s battery materials business.

Australia-based Redflow is to deploy its ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow batteries at several telecom tower sites in South Africa as part of a six-month test project with mobile network provider Mobax.

US legislators have unveiled a bipartisan draft law to authorise US$300 million over five years to speed up the development of next-generation energy storage technologies.

The US has issued a call for experts to join a new committee being set up to advise the federal government on lithium-ion battery transportation safety.

Tesla has confirmed it is releasing a batteries software update to all its Model S and X cars in the wake of recent high-profile fires.

All-iron flow battery system manufacturer Energy Storage Systems (ESS) has outlined plans to expand into the African market, targeting microgrid and utility-scale projects.

Saft has expanded its Zuhai battery cells plant in China to ramp up production for rail projects in Asia.

Two Asian battery makers are challenging the dominance of Germany's Sonnen as the top provider of energy storage systems in the country, according to latest research.

Ganfeng Lithium, China's largest lithium compounds producer, is tightening its grip on the battery raw materials market by agreeing to buy a 30% stake in Mexico-focused Bacanora Lithium.

Japanese carmaker Honda has led an £8.6 million (US$10.9m) funding round to boost investment in UK battery tech firm Moixa.