A consortium has made its first lithium-ion cells as it moves toward plans for a commercially viable 15GWh gigafactory in New York, US.
Imperium3 New York (iM3NY) has produced its first full sized prismatic cells for limited testing and customer sampling in Q3 of this year.
The first cells were produced using manual settings to refine the product design for future automated production.
Imperium3 New York consortium consists of Magnis Energy, C4V LLC New York and Boston Energy and Innovation.
The consortium said the cells were the first stage of demonstration of its ability to synchronise material science, engineering and process knowledge to produce a commercially viable lithium-ion cell.
A Magnis statement read: “While the volumes would increase with fully optimised and automated lines, the current phase works towards production grade design and de-risks design unknowns involved in the transition from pilot production to full scale production.”
The manufacturing plant will be located in the Huron Campus of Endicott, New York State, and will be the first of three global locations that Imperium3 will commence volume operations from.
Plans also include a 15GWh lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Townsville, Australia.
In all, the consortium aims to build three 15GWh battery manufacturing plants servicing global markets such as Australasia, North America and the Middle East.
Australia’s abundance of raw battery materials has led another firm to launch plans for a 1.3GWh factory.
Energy Renaissance secured AUS$246,625 ($175,000) co-funded grant last year to push forward plans for its Renaissance One plant, which will manufacture batteries for Australia and export to Southeast Asia.
