Caithness battery maker AMTE Power confirms Australian factory plans
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Specialist battery maker AMTE Power is to open a new factory in Australia’s Lithium Valley to add to its existing production facility in Caithness.
AMTE Power, which develops and manufactures lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells for specialist markets, has confirmed a joint venture agreement with Western Australia's InfraNomics Technologies Pty Ltd to build a 200,000 cell micro production line in Kwinana Industrial Area – the centre of Australia's growing lithium industry.
The joint venture will operate through Bardan Cells Ltd and be based in Kwinana, Western Australia. InfraNomics, which focuses on energy technologies and services, is responsible for capital fund raising, providing local expertise, establishing local sovereign supply chains and supporting the development of Bardan. AMTE Power will provide Bardan with the licenced technology and manufacturing expertise to build cells for use in energy storage systems.
The new factory is intended as a forerunner to a much larger Gigafactory, which will be capable of producing between 1-2GWh of lithium-ion battery cells annually for use in energy storage systems in Australia
AMTE Power chief executive Kevin Brundish said: “The more our cells are in production, whether that be in the UK or Australia, all adds to the commercial appeal of our portfolio of cells. Bardan is attractive as a stand alone investment proposition for us, given the anticipated demand in Australia for energy storage solutions, but at the same time,
"Bardan is attractive as a further test platform for our technologies and will be particularly useful additional experience and proof to investors and customers of our capabilities as we pursue the development of our UK based Gigafactory. For Bardan, there is no doubt the combination of our licensed technology and knowledge of battery cell manufacturing at scale is an excellent fit with InfraNomics’ capital raising capabilities, local market and supply chain knowledge. We believe Bardan can play a significant role in Australia’s future cell production supply line.”
Infranomics founder and director Cameron Edwards commented: “The relationship with AMTE provides Bardan and its customers the advanced technological expertise required to make world-class products suitable for extreme environments. The global transformation of energy is one of the largest growth markets in the world and we are delighted to be playing a role in reshoring manufacturing in the Australian energy sector and creating an essential piece in the critical raw materials value chain.”
Founded in 2013, Thurso-based AMTE Power was founded in 2013 and is a leading developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion battery cells for specialist markets including the luxury car market.
It is focused on launching a series of next generation battery cells based on new chemistries and cell structures that are designed to solve key problems in power delivery, energy performance, and safety.
