Caithness advanced battery cell manufacturer 'on a clear pathway to full commercialisation'
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Caithness advanced battery cell maker AMTE Power is well on the way to achieving commercialisation of its innovative products, according to chief executive Kevin Brundish.
Mr Brundish was speaking following the publication of the firm's half year update.
This showed that turnover is up 31 per cent on 2021 figures, from £620,000 to £810,000.
However, pre-tax losses – reflecting the business's current investment phase – are up from £1.46 million in 2021 to £2.65 million.
Despite the latter figure, Mr Brundish is positive about the future of the firm and commented: "A year on from listing we have used our proven cell manufacturing expertise to forge our clear pathway to full commercialisation as the market leader in advanced battery cells focusing on the huge global markets of energy storage and high-performance automotive sectors.
"We have invested in ongoing development, increased cell production rates, and developed commercial relationships and partnerships as well as refined our plans during the past six months. We anticipate that significant milestones will be achieved during 2022.
"AMTE is an exciting, commercially advanced business, with a depth of operational expertise and management know-how to deliver on its plans and looks forward to engaging with key stakeholders as we achieve important steps in the business’ evolution.”
Battery cell development continues at pace with both the Ultra Energy (UE) cell and Ultra High Power (UHP) cell currently undergoing significant scale up and testing trials at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) where the UK Government has invested £130 million into a high rate cell production facility. AMTE was one of the first businesses to take advantage of this facility as part of the scale up of its products in advance of commercialisation.
The firm says it is continuing to leverage opportunities from manufacturing know-how at its unique Thurso production facility, with production rates increasing and planning permission granted to extend this site and capability.
At the same time, plans are progressing for a Gigafactory with three potential sites identified in the UK and talks under way with local authorities, with a final decision expected on the site later this year.
Other products continue to hit development milestones, and an Australian joint venture with InfraNomics has been successfully launched, giving AMTE access to Australia’s more mature renewables energy storage market where energy storage installations are expected to grow from 500MW to more than 12.8GWh by 2030.
