battery manufacturing

Canada Rolls out expansion funding for lead-acid

James Surrette (right) with local MP Bill Casey

Canadian deep cycle lead-acid battery maker Surrette is expanding its production facility in Nova Scotia, to “boost its global competitiveness and spur business growth”.

The 25,000 sq. ft. expansion to the Surrette Battery Company’s Springhill plant will be accompanied by the incorporation of “advanced robotics and automation” at its production facility.

Contrary to many wider fears of the undesirable effects of automation, Surrette’s actions will cause them to hire an additional 18 “highly-skilled workers”, taking their total roll-call to 100.

Surrette Battery Company

lead-acid

battery manufacturing

North America

canada

Infrastructure

Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries (VRLA)

Europe ‘lost edge to China’ in batteries— Saft owner

Europe has “lost its edge” to China in the battery stakes— even before the EU’s proposed Batteries Alliance starts making cells, the boss of the company that owns French batteries firm Saft has said.

Patrick Pouyanné (pictured), the chairman and CEO of oil and gas giant Total, which acquired Saft in 2016, told broadcaster CNBC: “Quite frankly, Europe’s lost its edge, in this area, hasn’t it? The Chinese are now the world leaders in renewable energy.”

Pouyanné said he had spoken to German economy minister Peter Altmaier, who had “talked a lot about batteries, and how he thinks it’s an important direction” in which Europe should go.

europe

battery manufacturing

Siemens opens BlueVault battery plant in Norway

Siemens has opened a battery module factory in Norway to assemble its BlueVault lithium-ion maritime battery systems.

The facility in Trondheim will assemble its liquid-cooled battery modules comprising cells manufactured in Asia, a Siemens spokesperson told BEST Battery Briefing.

Each battery has nine modules, with each module comprising 28 battery cells “for a combined total installed power of 60 kilowatt-hours”, the spokesperson said.

Norway

lithium-ion batteries

battery manufacturing

Malaysia ‘looks to achieve first Li-ion production in ASEAN’

Within the next 18 months, Malaysia is set to become the first country in the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to produce lithium-ion batteries, according to the CEO of Malaysia Automotive Robots and IoT Institute (MARII).

Datuk Madani Sahari (pictured) told South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper that, at least in terms of size and energy retention, the batteries produced would be similar to those used in Tesla automobiles.

“We are looking at possible production sites in Negeri Sembilan or Sengalor, which will be finalised in the first half of this year”.

Malaysia

Association of SouthEast Asian Nations

MARII

Lithium-ion

battery manufacturing

Li-ion production

Toyota and Panasonic agree batteries joint venture

Japanese compatriots Panasonic and Toshiba have concluded contracts toward setting up a joint venture (JV) company related to the automotive prismatic battery business.

The JV— which is subject to approval by anti-trust chiefs— will cover “research, development, production, engineering, manufacturing, procurement, order receipt, and management”.

Toyota will contribute equipment and personnel in the areas of development and production engineering related to battery cells, while Panasonic will contribute equipment and personnel to support activities including production, development, engineering and manufacturing (at its plants in Japan and Dalian, China).

Mergers & Acquisitions

joint venture

battery manufacturing

Blackstone Resources plans Germany battery plant

Swiss battery metals investor Blackstone Resources is launching a research centre in Germany— ahead of plans to set up “a substantial battery-production project” in the country.

The company is investing €200 million to establish Blackstone Research in the city of Erfurt, with the goal of building “the next generation of electric-vehicle batteries, close to where German auto manufacturers are based”, in the east-central state of Thüringen.

Blackstone said it will initially put up the investment itself, but hopes to “garner support from subsidies” from European Union R&D funds and from regional and federal funding in Germany.

Blackstone

Switzerland

R&D

electric vehicle EV batteries

battery manufacturing

lithium ion

Leoch breaks ground on China lithium plant

Hong Kong-listed lead batteries firm Leoch International Technology has broken ground for a major lithium-ion battery plant in China’s northern Anhui Province.

Leoch is investing CNY1.2 billion (US$177.5 million) in the project to build a factory in the Huaibei Development Zone with an annual production capacity of four gigawatt-hours.

The ‘Leoch International Anhui New Energy Battery Project’ will manufacture batteries for energy storage systems as well as to power electrical devices, Leoch said.

Leoch International Technology

china

Lithium-ion

battery manufacturing

Gridtential

Huaibei Development Zone

Tecchren ‘to kick off lithium-ion production in Andhra Pradesh’

Tecchren Batteries has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) to establish a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh, southeast India.

According to The Times of India, US-based Tecchren has formed an Indian subsidiary company, Tecchren Batteries Private Limited, which will conduct the establishment of the 200MW Lithium Ferro Phosphate battery manufacturing facility in Sri City.

J Krishna Krishore, CEO of APEDB, told the paper: “This MoU is a step in the right direction as electronics is a priority sector for the government of Andhra Pradesh and India grows to be one of the largest electronics manufacturing hubs.”

Tecchren Batteries

Andhra Pradesh

India

battery manufacturing

Lithium-ion

(EV) batteries

LG Chem expands battery investment in China

South Korean battery giant LG Chem has confirmed plans to invest the equivalent of more than US$1 billion to expand its battery manufacturing capacity in eastern China.

LG Chem signed a 1.1 trillion Korean won (KRW) investment contract with municipal and city leaders to include building a third plant in Nanjing, which will produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

According to the agreement, LG Chem will invest KRW600bn in the new plant and an existing EV and small battery plant by 2020 respectively— all in the Nanjing Xinjiang Economic Development Zone.

LG Chem

china

Nanjing

battery manufacturing

(EV) batteries

Lithium-ion

GS Yuasa expands in Germany for sales push

Japan-based battery giant GS Yuasa is leasing new premises in Germany to expand its business.

The lead-acid and lithium-ion battery manufacturer has leased around 7,300 square metres of logistics space at Krefeld, in North Rhine-Westphalia, northwest of Düsseldorf.

The lease at the new Segro Logistics Center Krefeld II has a term of more than 10 years and starts in April 2019.

battery manufacturing