Babcock & Wilcox MEGTEC is to design and supply electrode coating equipment for the first lithium cells manufacturing plant to be built in Italy.
The Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises subsidiary was awarded the $15 million contract by Italy’s FAAM brand batteries producer FIB— part of Italy’s K R Energy Group.
FIB chief executive officer Vittorio Civitillo said the work would form “part of a larger project that involves the construction of the first plant in Italy for the production of lithium cells of Italian and European excellence”.
The plant on an industrial site in Teverola, about 20 kilometres north of Naples, is due for commissioning in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the facility follows FIB’s signing last year of a EUR36.7m investment agreement with regional agencies and Italy’s economic development ministry. The development’s funding comprises a grant and a subsidised loan.
B&W MEGTEC said two of its ProCoater coating lines will be the “centrepiece” of equipment it will supply, featuring proprietary simultaneous double-sided coating and drying technology.
Each ProCoater will be matched with a mixing and slitting system and B&W MEGTEC will also provide general contracting and plant start-up services for the plant, which will include both anode and cathode coating lines.
B&W MEGTEC senior vice-president Kenneth Zak said the simultaneous two-sided coating systems for battery electrodes ” simplify production, reduce operating costs and improve quality”.
The ProCoater coating line features a maximum electrode foil run width of 700mm, a coating speed of up to 20m/min, multi-lane coating ability and a flotation dryer. The webline, ProCoaters and dryers will be made at B&W MEGTEC’s HQ facility in Wisconsin.
FIB designs, manufactures and sells automotive, traction, stationary and lithium-ion batteries under the FAAM brand.
