Altech Batteries completes battery cell manufacture

Altech Batteries has reported significant progress in manufacturing its CERENERGY ABS60 BatteryPack prototypes in partnership with the German Fraunhofer institutes research and development organisation.

The company told investors that all 240 cells for the first ABS60 BatteryPack Prototype had been assembled and initialised at high performance ceramics R&D institute Fraunhofer IKTS, Hermsdorf, Germany (pictured).

The battery Cell Contacting System (CCS) has undergone stringent testing and has now been completed and delivered by key supplier Hofer AG, according to the company.

With every cell passing quality checks, the modules containing the cells were shipped to the laboratory where they were successfully welded onto the CCS.

Altech Batteries Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Iggy Tan said: “Altech’s team in Germany, together with its joint venture partner Fraunhofer, and with the assistance of key suppliers, have made excellent progress on the fabrication of two 60kWh CERENERGY ABS60 BatteryPack prototypes.

“Altech is now completing the welding of the cells to the Cell Contacting System, after which the five completed battery modules will be delivered to Fraunhofer IKTS in Dresden, where all five modules will be mounted into the ABS60 BatteryPack and the first ABS60 Prototype will be completed.

“The BatteryPack will then be available for testing and demonstration to potential customers, thereby assisting Altech in securing offtake and finance for the 120MWh CERENERGY battery plant to be constructed on Altech’s land in Germany.”

The Altech-Fraunhofer joint venture is developing a 100 MWh Sodium Chloride Solid State (SCSS) battery plant on Altech’s land in Saxony, Germany, producing a novel new battery focused on the stationary or grid energy storage market.

The company’s CERENERGY battteries are made without lithium, are fire and explosion proof, have a life span of 15 years and can operate in extremely cold and hot climates.

Tan said that during fabrication of the two 60kWh CERENERGY ABS60 BatteryPack prototypes, the Altech and Fraunhofer team made several design improvements to the cell’s positive probe.

These enhancements aimed to boost the cell’s energy capacity and reduce the nickel content.

The “V2” design of the positive probe allows for slightly faster charging and discharging while lowering the unit costs of the battery.
Further reading:
Altech to make its CERENERGY battery in Germany
Picture: Altech Batteries/: First battery cell module ready to be shipped