korea

Lithium-air batteries take a step closer to commercialisation

Researchers in Korea claim to have developed a lithium-air battery that has a 300km driving range in an electric vehicle.

The team from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) university has developed a cathode made from nickel cobalt sulphide nanoflakes placed on a porous graphene that was doped with sulphur.

korea

lithium-air

battery

electric vehicle.

LG Chem secures $5bn loan to build lithium-ion manufacturing plants as it announces US gigafactory plans with GM

Korean battery maker LG Chem has secured around $5 billion in loans to build lithium-ion manufacturing plants outside of the country between 2020 and 2024.

The money has been earmarked by a group of financial institutions led by the state-run lender Korea Development Bank (KDB), and which includes the Export-Import Bank of Korea and Nonghyup Bank.

Panax to double electrolyte output within three years with second plant

Korean firm Panax Etec has finished building its second lithium-ion electrolyte manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China, according to Korean media.

The company plans to produce around 10,000 tons of electrolyte at the new plant by 2021 to take advantage of ‘Europe’s growing secondary battery market’.

Hyundai signs MoU to use second-life lithium-ion batteries in ESSs

South Korea’s vehicle OEM Hyundai Motor Group has committed to a joint project with Korea-based energy solution firm OCI to reuse second-life lithium-ion batteries from EV’s in energy storage systems (ESS).

The systems will be used in solar power generation applications following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 9 September.

energy storage systems (ESS).

Work starts on two 100MW lithium-ion BESSs in Ireland

Korean-Irish partners have broken ground on two 100MW lithium-ion battery energy storage projects in Ireland that will provide back-up power to support grid stability and reliability as the country increases its use of wind and solar power.

South Korea’s Hanwha Energy Corporation and Irish partners Lumcloon Energy said €150 million (US$165m) had been invested to develop the sites in County Offaly.

korea

Irish

100MW lithium-ion

battery energy storage projects

SK Innovation ‘in battery venture talks with VW, China’

South Korea’s SK Innovation (SKI) is reportedly in talks to establish two separate battery production joint ventures— one with Volkswagen and another with Chinese partners.

SKI confirmed talks with Volkswagen in an interview with Reuters, saying the two companies were discussing building a factory together. SKI also said I was “on the cusp” of agreeing plans to build a plant in China with “undisclosed partners”.

The president of SKI’s batteries business YS Yoon told Reuters: “Our strategy is to keep up with technological advancement by having relationships with some of our key customers. Compared with rivals, we’ve been matching or exceeding investment in the (EV batteries) area since last year.”

SK Innovation building Polish battery plant

SK Innovation is to start work on a factory in Poland to manufacture lithium-ion battery separators (LiBS) and ceramic coated separators (CCS) for electric vehicle batteries in Europe.

The South Korean group will break ground on the plant site in Województwo Śląskie in southern Poland in the third quarter of 2019— and expects to begin mass production in the third quarter of 2021.

SK Innovation intends to invest €335 million (US$378m) to realise four LiBS production units and three CCS production units on the 270,000 square metre site.

battery manufacturing

Infrastructure

battery separators

SK Innovation starts work on US battery factory

Artist's impression of SK Innovation's EV plant

SK Innovation has broken ground on a US$1.1 billion electric vehicle batteries production plant in the US state of Georgia.

The South Korean group said the plant would have an annual production capacity of around 60 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries annually by 2022— when full production is slated to start.

SK Group vice-chairman Choi Jae-Won said the facility— being built on a 278-acre site in Commerce City— would be completed in the second half of 2021 and help to strengthen Korean-US economic cooperation.

SK Innovation

korea

asia

lithium-ion batteries

(EV) batteries

USA

Georgia

Second Korean collaboration for BMZ Group

BMZ's Sven Bauer and Samsung SDI's Michael Son at the contract signing

Germany’s BMZ Group and South Korea’s Samsung SDI have entered a long-term cooperation agreement to jointly promote the expansion of electromobile applications in the European market.

Karlstein-based BMZ said Samsung SDI, “one of the world's largest cell manufacturers, will rely in the future on BMZ as system supplier for battery systems, integration and software”.

enhanced lithium nickel oxide battery materials

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