SICONA SET TO BECOME THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF
SILICON CARBON ANODE MATERIALS IN THE
UNITED STATES
SYDNEY, April 22,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sicona
Battery Technologies, an Australian battery materials
innovator, today announced its expansion into the fast-growing
United States battery component
market with the development of its first commercial production
facilities in the south-eastern United
States near the geographic heart of the growing U.S. battery
and electric vehicle manufacturing hub.
Having recently completed front-end engineering design studies
with global engineering and construction leader Bechtel, Sicona is
moving forward with the phased development of a 6,700 tonne per
annum (tpa) silicon-carbon anode materials production plant.
This development will make Sicona the largest producer of
silicon-carbon anode materials in the
United States surpassing the approximately 5,800 tpa total
silicon-carbon plants under construction and development in the
north-western United States.
By the early 2030s, Sicona plans to ultimately expand its US
production to a total output of 26,500 tpa, enough silicon-carbon
anode materials to power more than 3.25m American electric vehicles (EVs).
Sicona SiCx™can deliver significant
improvements in today's EVs through increased range and reduced
charge times, two known major inhibiting factors to rapid EV
adoption in the United States, and
which are critical factors in achieving the stated US goals of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by ~52% below 2005 levels
by 2030.
Leveraging its extensive intellectual property portfolio Sicona
produces Silicon-Carbon (Sicona SiCx™) anode
materials that supercharge Lithium-ion batteries delivering a
20%-plus increase in energy density over conventional graphite-only
Lithium-ion battery cells and reducing charge times by more than
40%.
Furthermore, Sicona's technology does not rely on expensive,
dangerous, bottlenecked or emissions intensive supply chains such
as silane gas. This enables Sicona's customers to access unmatched
prices and scale for maximum positive impacts of a "drop-in"
material without incurring significant costs and disruptive
reengineering in their battery production facilities.
Utilising a top-down process, Sicona has cracked highly
efficient mechanical silicon metal reduction to create uniform
nanoparticles. Further treatment in specialised carbon coating
processes create the unique material qualities that customers
demand.
To support its US manufacturing plans, Sicona has started
supplying product samples and initiated offtake discussions with
cornerstone customers with qualification activities expected to
ramp up significantly over the coming 12 – 18 months.
"Sicona's vision is to be the largest silicon-carbon battery
materials producer in the world and today's announcement is the
first major step towards the realisation of that goal," Mr Jordaan
said.
"We believe by going mass scale with our technology we can have
maximum impact on increasing the adoption of electric vehicles.
This is because our product has a real impact on the charge time of
an electric vehicle or how far you can drive your EV before
recharging, which are two major factors holding people back from
buying an EV.
"We are proud to be an Australian company leading the charge on
the global stage and working with our valued partners like Bechtel
to establish our first production facilities in the United
States.
"We believe our proposed project
in the United States will promote
a sustainable energy future that expands and secures the domestic
US battery ecosystem and creates high quality jobs and economic
opportunities for the local community."
"As the world works to lower its carbon footprint, Bechtel
provides the predictability needed to realize design and
construction of new battery value chain projects," said
Justin Britt, Bechtel's General
Manager for Electric Vehicles in Manufacturing & Technology.
"Bechtel provides a full array of project delivery services so our
customers can realize their vision."
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SOURCE Sicona Battery Technologies