Marine battery maker Corvus Energy opened a second lithium-ion battery factory on 5 September as it looks to meet demand for marine propulsion and electrical systems in Europe.
The fully automated factory in Bergen, Norway, comprises of a robotised and digitised production line with nine robotic stations with the ability to produce 400MWh of modular lithium-ion battery systems per year.
The cells will be supplied from ‘numerous’ sources with each system ranging from 3-35MWh. The first systems from the Norway plant will be delivered in mid November.
The factory, which uses robots in the entire process from unpacking parts to testing the finished battery module, will supply the European market— Corvus’ biggest growth area.
A company spokesman told BEST Battery Briefing: “The reason we invest in automated manufacturing processes is to increase the capacity and build a cloud-based production plant for the future.
“The reason for building a production plant in Norway is to be closer to the customers. Norway will supply batteries for Europe and Vancouver will supply batteries for North America and Asia.”
The company’s other factory in Vancouver, Canada, where the zero-emission and hybrid marine-propulsion systems are developed. The 200MWh factory supplies systems to the North American and Asian markets. The factory will be upgraded and semi-automated next year.
Geir Bjørkeli, CEO of Corvus Energy, said: “With so many of our customers and partners in Norway, it only made sense to add production capacity here, which gives us flexibility and will speed deliveries. Further, automated production will help the Corvus ESSs remain price-competitive.”
Bjørkeli said he believed there was an electric revolution going on in the maritime sector. “Our extensive experience has taught us that not one size fits all maritime applications. For that reason, we continue to invest in R&D and expanding our ESS product portfolio.”
Corvus is also expanding its Vancouver R&D center to manufacture the prototypes and production runs of new products.
