Source: Energy & Management Powernews, July 19, 2022
Fraunhofer researchers expect battery cell production capacity in Germany to grow to nearly 400 million kWh by 2030.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) provides a new outlook on the development of battery cell production in Europe. The figures, which the scientists have now determined in the course of the project "Bema 2020 II", funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, indicate a tenfold increase in capacity in Europe by 2030. All in all, the ISI estimates that this could amount to 1.5 billion kWh by then. The largest share of this, just under 400 million kWh, could come from new production facilities in Germany, it says.
Based on manufacturers' announcements, the Fraunhofer experts conclude that production capacities of up to 124 million kWh will be reached as early as this year. By 2025, they would likely quadruple to more than 500 million kWh. By the end of the decade, ISI said, about a quarter of the globally announced production capacity will be in Europe. Projects to build battery cell factories spanned at least 15 countries,
40 manufacturers aim to create production capacity
"This rapid build-up is largely driven by European players such as Northvolt, VW and ACC. The three named alone have announced a combined total of about one-third of European cell production capacity," predicts ISI expert Lukas Weymann. Northvolt is building two large cell factories in Sweden, and a gigafactory is also planned in Heide (Schleswig-Holstein). Even before this announcement, the company was planning to build a factory with VW in Salzgitter, which VW now wants to build independently, as well as another factory near Valencia in Spain. Locations for three further cell factories do not stand according to Lukas Weymann yet firmly, but the planned maximum production capacity of 40 GWh, which could reach each of these five factories in the final development.
In addition, the expert refers to the European car manufacturers Mecedes-Benz and Stellantis, which are shareholders of the Automotive Cells Company (ACC) with the battery manufacturer Saft. Gigafactories have been announced for Germany, France and Italy. ACC would profit like Northvolt from the support in the context of the large-scale promotion project started by the European Union "Important Project OF Common European Interest (IPCEI)", explains Weymann.
Besides the European cell manufacturers also enterprises such as CATL (China) and Tesla (the USA) with their planned German cell factories as well as LGES and Samsung SDI (both from South Korea) with their Eastern European factories would establish a large portion of the European cell production. In total, he said, more than 40 cell manufacturers have announced plans to build battery factories in Europe.
Author: Manfred Fischer
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