germany

Two Asian battery makers are challenging the dominance of Germany's Sonnen as the top provider of energy storage systems in the country, according to latest research.

Sonnen is still ranked No.1 in the annual ‘league table’ of home storage systems with a market share of 18%, according to an annual study compiled by Bonn-based market and opinion research institute EuPD. But South Korea’s LG Chem and China’s BYD are…

San Francisco-based lithium-ion tech company, Farasis Energy, plans to invest more than €600 million (US$672m) in building a battery cell, module and packaging production facility in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The company’s newly formed subsidiary, Farasis Energy Europe, will operate what will be its first European plant at Bitterfeld-Wolfen— which is expected to start making batteries for pure electric vehicles from around the end of 2022. 

German lithium battery storage firm Tesvolt says it is in pole position to open Europe’s first battery storage gigafactory, as it prepares to launch expanded manufacturing operations in Germany.

Tesvolt did not announce a date for completing production lines at its new Lutherstadt Wittenberg facility, but said the plant will have an eventual annual production capacity of more than 1GWh and an initial 12,000m² of floor space will be available next month— when production at an existing adjacent facility will switch to the new plant.

German state investment to establish a ‘home-grown’ battery cell industry cannot replace the need for “entrepreneurial commitment”, the country’s economy minister has said.

Federal economic affairs and energy minister Peter Altmaier (pictured) said: “We can only subsidise a part of the costs— the lion's share must be raised by the industry itself.”

Munich Re has launched an insurance policy for battery manufacturers to insure against the risk of their products not delivering as promised.

The Germany-based insurance group said the move would allow manufacturers to offer long-term performance guarantees, “whose value is backed by the insurance coverage”.

And US-based all-iron flow battery maker Energy Storage Systems confirmed it was including 10-year insurance coverage on its long-duration energy storage products through Munich Re.