French battery manufacturer Saft is set to double its primary lithium cell production in China to meet growing demand in the Asian markets.
Saft has invested €5million ($5.6million) in the new Zhuhai site in order to double production capacity to 60 million cells per year by Q3 2016.
To achieve this the company has quadrupled its space to 12,000 m², with 2,000 m² dedicated to nickel-based battery systems for the rail industry. The facility also has areas set aside for future growth into the energy storage and electric vehicle markets.
Angel Li, Saft’s general manager in Zhuhai, said the firm had already increased capacity of primary lithium cells to 40 million per year.
Li said: “Our production capacity did not allow us to fully meet the market demand in 2015. We decided to move to a bigger facility which allowed us to increase our capacity to catch up with the increasing demand.”
The company’s first facility in Zhuhai was built in 2006, to produce primary lithium batteries for China’s metering market. By 2014, the plant had produced its 100 millionth primary lithium battery.
Ghislain Lescuyer, chairman of the management board, said: “The opening of this new facility in Zhuhai represents a new milestone in the implementation of our long-term growth strategy in Asia.”
