Battery tech firm Skeleton receives 51 mln euro grant from Germany
12/03/2021 11:22
TALLINN, March 12 (Reuters) - Estonian energy storage
technology maker Skeleton Technologies said on Friday it had
received a 51 million euro ($61 million) grant from Germany to
fully automate ultracapacitor production at its factory in
Grossroehrsdorf in the German state of Saxony.
Skeleton, which competes with U.S. automaker Tesla's battery
technology, is the largest European manufacturer in the emerging
sector for ultracapacitor-based energy storage, which enables
the batteries of electric vehicles to provide power for longer.
"The ultracapacitor industry is in the same situation as
lithium-ion batteries were in 1999, but our advancements in core
technology and production capabilities will be able to show a
cost reduction faster than for any other energy storage
technology," Skeleton CEO Taavi Madiberk said in a statement.
"We have a clear road map to lower (the cost) by almost 90%
after completion of our 5 years project," he said.
Skeleton said the grant comes from Germany's Federal
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Free State of
Saxony under the European Union's battery innovation funding
framework.
($1 = 0.8390 euros)
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
((tarmo.virki@thomsonreuters.com; +372 564 4562 ;))