EBRD, KfW give EUR135 million lending for next-gen cathode product plant in Poland

• The new product is not commercially readily available yet, but in trials the materials presumably confirmed its technical and also cost-effective supremacy over NMC 622, NMC 811 and also NCA batteries.

Poland is set to enhance even more its standing in the battery landscape that is considerably progressing across mainland Europe. Backed by a EUR135 million car loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and also Development, as well as German growth bank KfW IPEX-Bank, modern technology company Johnson Matthey will open a plant for its cathode product eLNO.

The European financial institution will give EUR90 million to the finance facility, and also the German equivalent will chip in EUR45 million. The site will certainly be found in the main Polish community of Konin, which organizes significant lignite mining tasks. With the EU making strides in the direction of closing down such mines, the bloc has actually previously revealed that it will provide cash through numerous organizations to aid such areas transition right into new ways of earnings.

" Construction of the brand-new plant in Konin is a considerable landmark in the commercialization of our eLNO battery cathode materials," stated Christian Günther, chief executive for battery materials at Johnson Matthey. "Supported by this funding, we intend to have eLNO in production on automobile systems by 2024, making it possible for the change to electrical vehicles and also a cleaner, healthier world for us all."

The Johnson Matthey plant is readied to produce 10,000 tonnes of its trademark-protected eLNO cathode product every year. Such an amount would certainly be sufficient for the manufacturing of 100,000 battery electrical cars. With additional financial investment, the capacity of the plant might ramp up significantly according to the EBRD launch. Construction job started this year and the plant is readied to start commercial production in 2022.

Cathode material manufacturing is extremely energy-intensive as well as accounts for big parts of the impact in battery manufacturing. Johnson Matthey claims that its eLNO production in Poland will adopt much higher energy effectiveness requirements and also be powered from renewables.

" We are really delighted to finance this site project, which marks a big progression in making electrical vehicles not only an environmentally friendly, but additionally a progressively affordable and also appealing, different to typical lorries," comments Grzegorz Zieliński, EBRD local supervisor main Europe and head of Poland. "We likewise invite the development of new tasks and expect more favorable effect from the expertise transfer related to this vital investment."

According to business details, the eLNO is a brand-new type of cathode material created to boost EV driving varieties and also battery life. The high nickel cathode was called a step-change in regards to cost per kWh/cycle contrasted to various other products. Allegedly, the relative price of material per kWh per cycle throughout of helpful life has to do with one-third reduced for eLNO than for NMC 622, 811 or NCA cathodes. The business claims evaluation to that impact had actually been performed by Qinetiq, a third-party validation firm, in 2018. The plant in Konin will certainly be the very first globally to produce the product.

Johnson Matthey is not the initial battery products firm establishing a foot in Poland. Sweden-based battery maker Northvolt has been running a battery setting up manufacturing facility in Gdańsk because springtime 2019. The Northvolt Battery Systems Jeden site hosts production capabilities for approximately 10,000 battery components per year. In addition the site additionally operates as an R&D system for industrializing battery solutions.