Altech signs five-year sodium battery supply agreement with German campus

Altech Battery has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to supply 30 1MWh Cerenergy GridPack sodium batteries per year to a major German industrial park for energy storage as part of a five-year agreement starting in 2027.

The agreement, reached with consultancy Zweckverband Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe (ZISP), which oversees the campus in the Lusatia region of southeastern Germany, will cover the first five years of production at Altech’s planned 120MWh plant. It is Altech’s first acquisition for batteries made using sodium ions from common table salt.

The letter of intent also includes wider work to upgrade the coal-reliant Schwarze Pumpe industrial complex into a renewable energy hub. Altech’s batteries are also expected to play a leading role in storing and managing electricity generated by wind and solar in the wider region.

The deal with ZISP is not only good news for Altech, but also crucial for Lusatia, a region that has historically relied on coal for its industrial power needs.

The alliance with ZISP was largely driven by Germany's broader "Energiewende" initiative, which is pushing the country to move away from coal and other fossil fuels and toward sustainable energy. Currently, 25% of Germany's energy needs come from coal-fired power generation. After the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, when gas supplies from Russia were cut off, the proportion of coal-fired power generation doubled.

The nominal voltage of a single CERENERGY ^® cell is 2.58V

“The interest shown by the Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park Association (ZISP) in our technology is a clear signal of the growing demand for innovative energy storage solutions, especially as the industry shifts towards 100% renewable energy. It is encouraging to see that potential customers like ZISP recognize the value of our scalable and reliable battery systems.”

Altech Battery CEO Iggy TanTan said the letter of intent validates the commercial potential of the company's batteries and supports its future growth strategy by strengthening its ability to attract project financing. He believes the partnership will be "just the beginning" and he expects battery demand to grow significantly.

Germany is in the process of amending legislation to phase out coal under the EU’s “Zero Valley” initiative, which provides for the certification of projects such as the Schwarze Pumpe park as a model for the storage and use of renewable energy.

CERENERGY® sodium battery cell with positive and negative ^electrodes

Sodium batteries are relatively new to the energy storage space. As solid-state batteries, they are fireproof and explosion-proof, have a lifespan of more than 15 years, and can operate in extreme conditions, making them a safer and more sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

In addition to Cerenergy, Altech is developing its Silumina anode project, which focuses on improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries by adding silicon. The company believes this innovation can increase battery energy capacity by up to 30%, thereby reducing range anxiety, which is often cited as a barrier for consumers considering purchasing an electric vehicle (EV).

Large-scale, cost-effective battery storage has long been seen as a bottleneck to accelerating the adoption of green energy. However, Altech appears to have put itself in a leading position to help the transition to renewable solutions.

(Source: Altech Batteries Global Energy Storage Network, New Energy Network Comprehensive)