A startup company from Australia is planning to construct a manufacturing facility that costs $210 million for lithium-ion battery production and development, as an effort to reduce its compliance in China, the industry's dominant producer.

(Photo : RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
A rechargeable Lithium-ion battery for the Volkswagen ID.3 electric car is pictured at the Volkswagen car factory in Zwickau, eastern Germany, on February 25, 2020. 

New Manufacturing Facility for Lithium-Ion Batteries

An AU$300 million factory is planned to be constructed by a startup company called Recharge Industries Pty on the site of Geelong in Southeastern Australia. Based on a report from Bloomberg, the construction will begin in the second half of the year and will begin production by late 2024.

As Founder David A. Collard said in an interview, this operation will have an initial capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours per year and will eventually go to 30 gigawatt-hours. He added, "Australia is the new Saudi Arabia of the new energy age. We have all the key critical minerals to power the next 100 years."

Australia has a pipeline of 25.6 gigawatt-hours of battery production projects. Additionally, the country is the world's largest supplier of lithium, which is a critical battery metal. However, they have been sending the majority of their battery raw materials to be processed into components in China. 

China has 1,000 gigawatt-hours of cell manufacturing capacity, while the rest of the world has 239.7 gigawatt-hours. 

Aside from this country, the United States and India are also pushing and planning to expand domestic clean manufacturing capacity in an effort to shift away from fossil fuels.

The three countries that are doing this will also attempt to reduce their compliance with China as their main supplier. US President Joe Biden presented the Inflation Reduction Act that will include generous incentives for solar, battery, and electric-vehicle manufacturing, which sparked several companies announcing plans to launch new manufacturing facilities in the United States.

Produced Materials

The company's batteries will not be using cobalt or nickel as they also avoid any produced materials from Russia. Instead, they will be sourcing their lithium raw materials from Australians and South American mines and will utilize refined lithium from these countries.

Through the founder's hedge fund Scale Facilitation, Recharge Industries was developed with backers, including Australian superannuation funds, asset managers, and strategic investors currently involved in the project. 

Also Read: Tevva Receives Approval for Commercial Production of Its 7.5-Tonne Battery E-Truck TEV75

Competitors

Last October 2022, Nanograf Technologies confirmed that the company succeeded in running the 18,650 Lithium-Ion cells, achieving a new record for the energy-density. This makes the company have the longest-running 4.0Ah battery in the world. 

Compared to its testing last 2021, Electrek reported that Nanograf found increased stability and a highly scalable nature. The difference between the two findings was minimal as it sits only at 10Wh/L. With the new finding last year, the company believes that it is now ready to suit the production. 

Related Article: China is Ready to Use Lithium Batteries To Their Large Fleet of Submarines