Produce innovative battery materials in Germany: ZSW inaugurates the “Powder-Up!” pilot plant.
The production of new high-performance batteries for electric vehicles and stationary storage devices has taken an important step forward in Germany. On May 2, 2024, a pilot plant was inaugurated at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) in Ulm, which will enable the production of innovative battery materials and their precursors on a scale of up to 100 kilograms outside of industry for the first time in this country. Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and Ministerial Director Michael Kleiner from the Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism were present at the inauguration. Construction of the facility began in December 2022. It was supported by funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism of the state of Baden-Württemberg financially supported the construction of the new nationwide beacon of German battery research called “Powder-Up!”.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Research Minister, said:
The new Powder Up! for the production of high-energy and environmentally friendly battery materials is a central building block for building a competitive and sustainable battery value chain in Germany and Europe.
“This will also further advance technological sovereignty in the area of battery production. German battery research is top-notch, now we have to improve the transfer to application and create new, innovative infrastructures for this. With the pilot plans Powder-Up! At the ZSW in Ulm and the battery cell research production in Münster, a coherent research ecosystem is being created in Germany for the development of innovative battery technologies ‘Made in Europe’. This research infrastructure strengthens Germany’s position as a leading location for battery production. “It is now up to the industry to use this offer to quickly ramp up the market,”
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Michael Kleiner, Ministerial Director in the Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism, emphasizes:
With the state funding totaling 10 million euros, we are making an important contribution so that ZSW can further expand its position as a leading application-oriented battery research center.
Prof. Dr. Markus Hölzle, head of the ZSW in Ulm, said:
The performance of lithium-ion batteries mainly depends on the materials used. With the “Powder Up!” pilot plant, such cathode materials can now be produced in a near-series environment for the first time outside of industry.
“We are proud to be able to offer this manufacturer-independent development platform to our partners from industry and science. Only industry-proven machines are used in the four-story powder-up building to guarantee successful product production under conditions close to series production.”
Manufacture cathode materials close to industry
New materials are first tested in small battery prototypes. However, if the results are successful, significantly larger quantities of material will quickly become necessary. Until now, these could only be supplied by large industrial manufacturers, who, however, usually do not produce in Europe and are only rarely willing to sell their best products to universities or other research institutions. Powder-Up now closes this gap.
The Powder-Up pilot plant covers a usable area of 2,400 square meters and covers all production steps for the production of high-energy and environmentally friendly battery materials. This includes a precipitation system for preliminary stages, high-temperature heat treatment and various variants of post-processing. New chemical laboratories and high-precision analytical measuring devices are also integrated. The new systems make it possible to quickly produce different product samples and test them just as quickly. Using digitalized process steps including the associated product analytics, the development cycles are to be further shortened in order to quickly further improve the use of resources, product yield and the performance of batteries.
The materials produced in “Powder-Up!”, the focus is on novel cathode materials, can then be used for developments in pilot plants at research institutes or at battery producers. Batches of up to 100 kilograms are possible. Only this amount of material makes it possible to build full-size batteries, such as those that would later be used in vehicles, for example. Powder-Up also serves to research individual production steps and the machines used for this. Through this work, Powder-Up also supports German mechanical engineering, from which almost all machines and systems come.
The state of Baden-Württemberg is financing the Powder-Up building with 10 million euros. The pilot plant with all system components, the building and security technology as well as the necessary analytics is being financially supported with 24 million euros by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Investment, innovation and industrial cooperation
The scientists at ZSW have been researching functional materials for batteries and supercapacitors for over 35 years. They therefore have extensive experience in the development and processing of tailor-made powders and pastes. One focus is on the design of innovative battery cells without the use of critical and environmentally harmful raw and auxiliary materials, but also on battery cells with increased safety.
Since 2014, the ZSW in Ulm’s facilities have also included a large pilot line for the industrial production of lithium-ion cells up to 80 amp hours and, since 1998, a Europe-wide recognized battery safety and testing center in which the performance of batteries and especially new battery prototypes is tested under the most extreme conditions conditions are evaluated. This also includes deliberately caused battery fires in the security bunkers at ZSW. The activities are rounded off by researching and implementing recycling processes for production waste and metals from used lithium-ion batteries.
Through continuous and generous support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the state of Baden-Württemberg, a robust ecosystem for battery production has been built in Germany in recent years. The ZSW plays a key role in technology transfer. Today, more than 100 experts at ZSW in Ulm are working on innovative components for the next generations of battery cells.
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Produce innovative battery materials in Germany: ZSW inaugurates the “Powder-Up!” pilot plant. source
