Italy's Energy and China's Pylon form European lithium battery JV
18/05/2023 12:57
MILAN, May 18 (Reuters) - Italian energy storage company
Energy ENRY.MI said on Thursday it had set up a joint venture
with a unit of China's Pylon Technologies 688063.SS focused on
the production and sale of lithium batteries for European
households and businesses.
Global demand for lithium, a key element for batteries, is
expected to increase by up to 89-fold by 2050.
As the European Union races to become a leading producer of
clean technologies, the bloc has set 2030 targets for the
minerals required for its green transition, including lithium.
The joint venture with Pylon Technologies, a provider of
lithium battery energy storage systems, was first announced in
February and will be headquartered at Energy's site in
Sant'Angelo di Piove di Sacco, northern Italy.
Under the partnership, where Energy holds a 30% stake,
cobalt-free lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries will be
manufactured at its facilities starting from this autumn, with
an initial overall investment of 10 million euros by the two
partners.
The batteries at the site, which is set to become a
gigafactory at a later stage, will be used to store energy
produced from renewable sources, in particular photovoltaic
panels, Energy said in a statement.
The initial site is expected to reach a production capacity
of 600-800 pieces per day - equal to 3-4 megawatt hours (MWh) of
storage capacity - for households and industry.
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; editing by Jason Neely)
((Federico.maccioni@thomsonreuters.com; +39 3420768883;))