UK based battery manufacturer AMTE Power and Sheffield-based Faradion Ltd., the world leader in sodium-ion battery technology, have announced a collaboration which combines Faradion's IP with AMTE Power's design and manufacturing capabilities.

LONDON: UK based battery manufacturer AMTE Power and Sheffield-based Faradion Ltd., the world leader in sodium-ion battery technology, have announced a collaboration which combines Faradion's IP with AMTE Power's design and manufacturing capabilities.

This collaboration grants AMTE Power a license for defined fields of use and geographies to manufacture and sell sodium-ion cells (to be incorporated into battery packs) for Energy Storage Solutions (ESS). This partnership enables sodium-ion battery technology to be incorporated in a range of renewable energy applications including residential energy storage, commercial micro-grids, wind turbine and tidal energy storage. Faradion's patented technology is highly scalable as it can leverage AMTE Power's existing lithium-ion manufacturing facilities in Thurso.

Faradion is leading the charge in the green global energy transition, and this agreement will help the UK become a leader in next generation battery technologies, as the world increasingly looks beyond lithium. Faradion's technology provides similar performance to conventional chemistries while avoiding use of expensive materials such as cobalt and replacing lithium with the more sustainable and abundant sodium. AMTE Power has branded its sodium-ion product "Ultra Safe" due to its improved safety and enhanced thermal stability. Faradion's patented zero-volt technology enables the Ultra Safe product to offer safer transportation and maintenance options for customers and users

Kevin Brundish, CEO of AMTE Power said, "This partnership between AMTE and Faradion allows us to manufacture next generation sustainable, sodium-ion batteries in the UK and leverage our core manufacturing expertise. Following our IPO, our intention is to build upon our ongoing collaboration and continue to utilise our production plant to scale and transfer Faradion's existing new cell technologies to volume manufacture."

"This agreement brings together AMTE Power strengths in design and manufacturing and Faradion's sodium-ion technology for a high-performance, sustainable next-generation energy storage technology," said James Quinn, CEO of Faradion. "Our aim is to further accelerate large-scale industrialization of Faradion's safe, low-cost sodium-ion energy technology. We are looking forward to supporting AMTE Power's growth in the rapidly expanding battery market and to jointly contribute to the transformation of the global energy market."

Annual battery storage development in the UK has grown significantly since 2017 and the total pipeline of battery storage projects in the UK has now reached over 16.1GW. Globally, renewables will make up two-thirds of all additions to global power generation capacity in the next 20 years, and solar PV will become the largest source of installed capacity in the next 15 years. These trends will drive a significant increase in the use of battery storage. The recent power outages in Texas highlight the importance of reliable, large-scale energy storage.