investment

German state aid for batteries not enough to replace private investment, says minister

German state investment to establish a ‘home-grown’ battery cell industry cannot replace the need for “entrepreneurial commitment”, the country’s economy minister has said.

Federal economic affairs and energy minister Peter Altmaier (pictured) said: “We can only subsidise a part of the costs— the lion's share must be raised by the industry itself.”

Peter Altmaier

germany

batteries

investment

state aid

Battery Consortium

Blackstone Resources bids for German battery investment aid

Swiss battery metals investor Blackstone Resources has submitted a detailed business plan to the German government in a bid to benefit from battery production subsidies.

Blackstone said it was among technology firms invited to submit blueprints for financing to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Blackstone Resources

batteries

investment

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Repsol joins firms oiling investment in batteries

Spanish oil company Repsol has purchased an undisclosed stake in Valencia-based manufacturer of residential battery systems, Ampere Energy.

Repsol will take a seat on Ampere’s board, but financial details of the transaction have not been revealed.

However, Ampere said the deal includes “a technological collaboration agreement… through which synergies will be generated in different projects and innovative initiatives will be developed in the field of energy storage and management”.

Repsol

Ampere

lithium batteries

Mergers & Acquisitions

investment

Sonen

Limejump

Germany names ‘national battery factory’ consortium

Federal research minister Karliczek © BMBF / Hans-Joachim Rickel

Germany has revealed the partners of a new government-backed battery cell consortium, as part of plans to secure the nation’s “technological sovereignty in battery technology”.

Swiss battery manufacturer Leclanché has been selected to join the consortium along with German battery peers BMZ, TerraE, Customcells, EAS and Liacon.

Federal research minister Anja Karliczek said Germany would invest an extra €500 million (US$570m) in battery research over the next four years, including the construction of a ‘national battery research factory’— to be operated by the consortium— bringing research and production activities “under one roof”.

Samsung 'to expand China battery production'

Korean electronics giant Samsung is to invest US$2.4 billion in order to expand battery manufacturing in Tianjin, northern China, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The Tianjin municipal government has reported that the investment will be used to expand the power battery lines for automotive batteries, and to establish a multi-layer ceramics capacitors (MLCC) factory in the city.

Tianjin is already a well-established manufacturing base for Samsung, with 10 affiliated companies currently in the municipality, pumping out products reportedly worth a combined total of around CNY84bn ($12.2bn) annually.

samsung

korea

china

battery manufacturing

investment

Berlin urges EU to relax state-aid rules for battery investment

Angela Merkel: Photo: Bundesregierung/Kugler

Germany has started hush-hush talks with EU leaders aimed at relaxing state-aid rules so the government can pump cash into launching of a national battery cell production programme, BEST Battery Briefing has learned.

BBB understands Germany wants to set a faster pace of progress for Europe’s ‘Batteries Alliance’— with Berlin in the driving seat.

Hyundai backs solid-state with Ionic investment

South Korean car giant Hyundai has made an undisclosed investment in US-based Ionic Materials’ development of solid-state battery tech for electric vehicles (EV).

The investment by Hyundai’s business innovations arm— Hyundai Cradle— will keep the car firm “at the forefront of battery development, allowing us to build better eco-friendly vehicles”, said vice-president John Suh.

Camel to expand lead recycling

Chinese battery maker the Camel Group has announced plans to boost investment in lead-acid recycling over the next three years.

The company said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange announcement it is set to spend CNY1.5 billion ($234 million) on building three recycling and production sites— one in the eastern Anhui Province and the others in the northeast and southwest of the country.

Redflow to scale up battery making with cash raise

Australian flow battery maker Redflow is raising AUD18.1 million ($13.6m) to “scale up battery production and grow Australian and international sales”.

The Brisbane-based company said on 26 April it was raising the funds through a combination of a placement to new investors and a fully underwritten rights issue offered to all current shareholders.

Investors banking billions in batteries, says report

Battery companies sucked in a multi-billion-dollar boost from investors eager to grab a slice of the storage market in 2017, according to a new report.

The Mercom Capital Group said $1.03 billion was raised by battery storage, smart grid, and efficiency firms in the first half of 2017— compared to $807 million in the first half of 2016.