Battery technology company Recharge Industries has engaged Accenture as its engineering provider to move forward on building one of the world’s largest gigafactories in Australia.
At full capacity, the large-scale lithium-ion battery cell production facility in Geelong, Victoria, will generate up to 30GWh of storage capacity per year for electric vehicles and stationary energy storage markets.
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Construction will begin in the second half of 2023, with the goal of producing batteries equal to 2GWh annually in the second half of 2024 and 6GWh by 2026. As operations expand to full capacity, the factory will employ an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 workers directly.
Recharge Industries and Accenture are now moving the project into the detailed engineering phase, which will lay the foundation for the facility’s construction. The two companies have signed a framework contract covering the following Accenture consulting and engineering capabilities: advisory on the facility layout, including utility planning and set-up of the production lines; assistance in procuring and shipping the required equipment; conduction of final tests of all line equipment; ongoing process and product engineering support to improve battery production.
Recharge Industries has already secured the production equipment for the first 2GWh production line with binding off-take contracts and secured funding. The equipment is scheduled to arrive in Australia in late May 2023.
The two companies will collaborate closely with Charge CCCV (C4V), a technology partner of Recharge Industries, to support the ambitious timing.
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Recharge Industries CEO Rob Fitzpatrick said, “Establishing a sovereign manufacturing capability to produce state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery cells is critical to Australia’s renewable energy economy—meeting national demand, generating export income and securing supply chains.
“Our factory, which we are building with the assistance of Accenture’s engineering and capital projects expertise and underpinned by C4V’s IP and battery technology, will create thousands of jobs and attract large-scale investment from key players in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and other parts of the world.”
