Energy Renaissance, Australia’s first lithium-ion battery manufacturer in New South Wales, has received an additional $525,072 grant from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) to develop processes and workforce skills for its pilot manufacturing facility that will be used to build its superStorage batteries.
This co-funded grant includes financial and in-kind contributions matched by Energy Renaissance for a total project value of $1.48 million. With the additional funding, Energy Renaissance will accelerate the development of scalable process, and procedures from a 2,700sqm pilot facility in Tomago, NSW.
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Funding from this grant will allow rapid testing and the development of a scalable, manufacturing line and trained workforce that will inform the technology, systems and processes for Renaissance One, Energy Renaissance’s permanent, purpose built, 4,400sqm lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Tomago that is slated for completion in February 2022.
Energy Renaissance technology and development director Brian Craighead said, “AMGC has played a strategic role by supporting Energy Renaissance with a seed funding round last year that went towards the design and prototyping of our superStorage battery. The new funding injection from AMGC will now help us to scale-up towards commercial production and accelerate our ability to manufacture batteries faster. This is a win for Australia, our economy and workforce as we ascend the stage to become a global battery manufacturing powerhouse.”
AMGC managing director Dr Jens Goennemann said, “Australia relies heavily on imported batteries, a reliance Energy Renaissance is committed to changing. By investing in local manufacturing, upskilling a new workforce for manufacturing and developing an innovative battery solution, Energy Renaissance will showcase how Australia can and will have a global competitive edge in battery manufacturing.”
This pilot project will validate the sovereign capabilities that Australia has for the manufacturing of energy storage systems and demonstrate a stronger and more integrated Australian supply chain for key lithium-ion battery components and battery management systems that captures a greater share of supply-chain value-adding.
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With its scalable automated manufacturing line, Energy Renaissance will support an upskilled Australian workforce across the supply chain to support accelerating domestic and export market growth. Through this pilot, the company will look to refine its product technology platform to manufacture superStorage batteries securely and safely and secure the ongoing development of Australian-led IP in battery storage technology and supply chain collaboration.
Energy Renaissance manufactures Australian-made lithium-ion batteries that are safe, secure, affordable and optimised to perform in hot climates. These batteries will power stationary (grid and microgrid, renewables, community storage, mining electrification, Defence SilentWatch applications) and transport (buses, light commercial and industrial vehicles) applications.
