Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN), one of the world's leading energy storage solutions companies, announced that it is to participate in the industrial consortium which will support and operate a Battery Cell Research Production Centre, a new research and large-scale industrial manufacturing plant for lithium-ion cells, based in Germany.

The Battery Cell Research Production Centre is an initiative launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and will receive an investment of 500 million EUROS. It is part of a strategic drive to develop a German-based mass production of lithium-ion cells necessary to meet the demands of the electrification of transport and storage systems. 

As the largest cell manufacturer within the consortium, with world leading in-house technologies from electrochemistry to energy management systems software, Leclanché will be playing a leading role by bringing industrial scale cell manufacturing know-how. The consortium's objectives with the facility are to ensure it acts as an enabler for the development of mass industrial production based on state-of-the-art cell chemistry and cell design.   

Other participating companies include BMZ Group/ Terra E, Customcells, EAS and Liacon. 

The project is a significant win for the German Ministry of Education and Research, Germany, and for Europe at large who need the participation of leading lithium-ion players to build a European-based industry capable of minimizing dependence on Asian battery manufacturers. 

Leclanché announced in December 2018 that it would triple current factory capacity to over 3 million cells per year, or 1 GWh per year by 2020.  The production of its proprietary cells, Lithium Titanate Oxide (LT)) and Lithium Graphite/NMC, is based in Willstätt, Germany which is currently the largest lithium ion pouch cell production facility in Europe operating since 2012 with a capacity of over 1 million cells.  The ramp-up of cell production comes on the back of significant orders in the etransport sector including e-buses, 2-3 wheelers, and electric vehicles in India and Europe, and major breakthroughs in the marine sector with orders exceeding 45 MWh. Leclanché recently achieved the important milestone of 100 MWh of projects around the world. 

Leclanché SA | www.leclanche.com