New German company TerraE Holding GmbH has formed a consortium of 17 major companies and research institutions – and plans to construct two large-scale lithium-ion battery cell production plants in the country.
CEO Holger Gritzka (pictured) says the factories will be operated as “foundries”, meaning that TerraE Holding GmbH will build and operate them, and produce lithium-ion cells according to customers’ specifications.
The sites for the factories could be announced next month.
Gritzka said the project has gained support from the German government with €5.2 ($6.2) million in subsidies coming from the Ministry of Education and Research, although he expects to need upwards of a billion euros before completion. He says construction would start in the last quarter of 2019 and the factories would be producing batteries for forklifts, garden tools, electrical tools, energy storage and electric vehicles by 2028.
This is the second large-scale lithium-ion battery cell plant announced by a German company in recent months. In May, BBB reported on a new battery factory project by Daimler’s subsidiary, Accumotive, which is scheduled to go into operation mid-2018.
“We have to be better in process technology than competitors, a constant step ahead,” said Gritzka,
The consortium comprises companies with a wide range of experiences, including infrastructure manufacturing planners, material producers, mechanical engineering companies, battery cell makers and industrial customers.
