Altech Batteries completes manufacture of Cerenergy ABS60 battery prototype
Fabrication of all components for Altech Batteries’ (ASX: ATC) Cerenergy ABS60 BatteryPack prototype has been completed at the Fraunhofer IKTS pilot plant in Germany.
An external service provider worked on welding the cells to the cell contacting system during the June quarter, with the five completed battery modules to be delivered to Fraunhofer’s facility in Dresden for mounting into the BatteryPack.
The BatteryPack will then be available for testing and demonstration to prove individual use cases for potential customers and is also expected to assist Altech with offtake and financing arrangements for its proposed battery plant in Saxony.
Design improvements
Altech and Fraunhofer made several design improvements to the cell’s positive probe to boost its energy capacity and reduce nickel content.
The new design is believed to allow for slightly faster charging and discharging, while lowering the battery’s unit costs.
Testing revealed that most cells had higher-than-expected energy capacities with the new design, which Altech cited as “an outstanding result”.
Altech has employed a unique x-ray microtomography device for scanning inside the cells after they have been hermetically sealed to ensure the most homogeneous material distribution and the best possible alignment of cell components.
The company reported “excellent” results from the quality assurance procedure.
Securing finance
During the quarter, Altech appointed global corporate advisory firm KPMG to assist in securing finance to construct the 120 megawatt-hour Cerenergy battery plant.
KPMG will advise on potential financing transactions and provide services on public grant and subsidy programs.
Altech said it is moving forward to obtain sales offtake agreements for the project and sourcing finance to construct the plant.
The appointment of KPMG followed the release in March of a a positive definitive feasibility study (DFS) highlighting strong economics for the Cerenergy project.
Silumina anodes
Altech completed a $3.7 million share purchase plan in April, issuing 57.2 million new shares and 28.6 million free-attaching options.
Funds will be used as working capital for the Cerenergy project and for the company’s silumina anodes battery materials project.
A separate DFS released in December for the silumina project demonstrated “outstanding” economics including a net present value of $1.13 billion with a 34% internal rate of return and a payback period of 2.4 years.
Altech said it would apply funds to finalise the construction of an 8,000 tonnes per annum silumina anodes pilot plant and provide commercial samples to potential customers in North America and Europe.
Altech’s silumina anodes downstream alumina-coated battery materials business has been called a “game-changer” for the world’s electric vehicle battery market.