Another 10GWh semi-solid-state battery project signed and landed

The number of players in the semi-solid-state battery field is gradually increasing, and it is expected to be installed on a large scale in the next few years.

Battery China learned that on September 26, Chongqing Tailan New Energy Co., Ltd. ("Tailan New Energy") settled in Huainan City, Anhui Province with an annual production of 10GWh semi-solid lithium battery project. Tailan New Energy signed a framework cooperation agreement with Xinqiao International Industrial Park in Shou County, Huainan City. The two parties will invest in the construction of Tailan New Energy Semi-solid Power Battery Industrial Base in Shou County.

According to reports, Tailan New Energy's annual production of 10GWh semi-solid lithium battery production base has a total investment of 7 billion yuan. The project is implemented in two phases. The first phase of the project has an investment of 2 billion yuan, covers an area of ​​more than 200 acres, has a planned production capacity of 3GWh, and plans to enter the high-end new energy electric vehicle market. It has obtained multiple reserve customers; the second phase of the project investment plans to build a 7GWh power battery project. After the project is completed, it will become Tailan New Energy's second largest lithium battery industrial park after the Chongqing production and manufacturing base.

It is worth noting that at the beginning of this year, Tailan New Energy has started the construction of the "2+10" billion watt-hour (1.2GWh) semi-solid lithium battery production line in Chongqing production and manufacturing base. The first 200 million watt-hour (0.2GWh) production line will officially start mass production in October, which will also make Tailan New Energy one of the first companies in the industry to achieve mass production of semi-solid batteries.

Semi-solid-state batteries, also known as solid-liquid hybrid batteries, are a type of battery between liquid lithium batteries and all-solid-state lithium batteries. The difference between them and all-solid-state lithium batteries is that solid-liquid hybrid batteries contain a certain amount of liquid electrolyte, while all-solid-state lithium batteries only contain solid electrolytes and do not contain any liquid electrolytes.

However, large-scale mass production of all-solid-state batteries faces many technical and practical difficulties, while semi-solid-state batteries significantly reduce the amount of electrolyte used, greatly reducing the flammable and explosive safety hazards of traditional liquid batteries. At the same time, they far surpass liquid lithium batteries in terms of ultra-fast charging performance and high energy density performance at the cell level, and are considered by industry experts to be one of the mainstream directions of automotive power batteries in the future.

At the same time, the semi-solid battery production line is also widely compatible with existing liquid battery production lines. Xu Xiaoxiong, general manager of Zhejiang Fengli New Energy, said that the solid-liquid hybrid battery assembly is highly compatible with the current soft-pack liquid, which may exceed 80%. The remaining 20% ​​can be transformed through many existing production lines, and large-scale, automated and efficient mass production can be achieved without major disruptions. Tailan New Energy also revealed that the company's semi-solid battery has introduced an original mass production manufacturing process based on its wide compatibility with existing liquid battery production lines, making the manufacturing cost of semi-solid battery products lower than that of liquid lithium batteries and better product consistency, greatly accelerating the company's large-scale mass production progress.

1 This year, the construction of solid-state battery projects has entered an intensive period

In addition to Tailan New Energy's establishment of semi-solid battery production bases in Chongqing and Huainan, Anhui this year, many domestic players have already made such arrangements.

In January this year, the first batch of 50 Dongfeng-Ganfeng high-energy-density solid-state battery vehicles jointly developed by Dongfeng Motor and Ganfeng Lithium were delivered, becoming the world's first solid-state battery vehicle demonstration operation project. Ganfeng Lithium is steadily expanding its semi-solid-state battery production capacity.

Recently, Ganfeng Lithium said on an interactive platform that it expects the company's planned 2GWh first-generation solid-state battery (semi-solid) production capacity to be gradually released this year.

In February this year, the Qingtao New Energy Solid-State Lithium Battery Industrialization Project with a total investment of 5 billion yuan broke ground in Kunshan Development Zone. After completion, the project will reach an annual installed capacity of 10GWh, and after reaching full production, it is expected to add an annual output value of 10 billion yuan. In addition, SAIC also announced this year that it will jointly develop a long-range solid-state power battery with more than 1,000 kilometers with Qingtao Energy, which will be first implemented in SAIC's new self-owned brand models in 2023.

In March this year, Li Hong, founder of WeiLan New Energy, revealed that WeiLan New Energy is cooperating with NIO and plans to launch a solid-liquid hybrid electrolyte battery with a single-charge range of 1,000 kilometers based on the ET7 model. The battery pack has a capacity of 150 kWh and an energy density of 360Wh/kg. This semi-solid-state battery is expected to start mass production at the end of this year or the first half of next year.

In May, Xu Xingwu, deputy director of the General Institute of Guoxuan High-tech Engineering Research Institute, revealed that the semi-solid battery developed by the company has a single cell energy density of up to 360Wh/kg and a system energy density of 260Wh/kg, which will be available in the first half of next year. "It can pass the needle puncture test and the 150°C hot box test, which is generally difficult. We use it in a high-end car and it can run 1,000 kilometers." It is reported that Guoxuan High-tech's semi-solid battery with an energy density of 360Wh/kg is developed through material and process innovation, with solid electrolyte coated on the surface of the positive electrode material particles, silicon negative electrode used for the negative electrode, and a new high-safety functional diaphragm and high-safety liquid electrolyte.

SES Holdings Pte. Ltd. (SES) released the hybrid lithium metal battery ApolloTM in November last year. It is reported that SES is building a super factory in Shanghai, which is scheduled to be completed in 2023, and the production capacity will reach 1GWh after completion.

In addition, recently, Farasis Energy Chairman Wang Yu revealed in an interview with relevant media that in September this year, Farasis Energy has achieved mass production of semi-solid batteries. At present, Farasis is mainly improving from the safety aspect. "Liquid batteries need to be improved because organic electrolytes are highly reactive and produce a lot of gas after catching fire. However, there is no real technical capability to realize solid electrolytes at present, and semi-solid batteries are a compromise route."

2. Enterprises and capital are paying close attention to the potential of the semi-solid-state battery market

With the large-scale application of new energy vehicles around the world, the market's requirements for new energy vehicle performance are constantly increasing, and the demand for high-performance power battery lithium materials is also growing. Semi-solid batteries are recognized as the next generation of power battery technology due to their technical and cost feasibility. Compared with traditional liquid batteries, semi-solid lithium batteries have the advantages of higher safety, greater energy density, longer battery life, wider application areas, and faster charging speeds, and the market has huge future market space.

BOC Securities predicts that the global demand for semi-solid-state batteries is expected to reach 44.2GWh and 494.9GWh in 2025 and 2030 respectively; Sealand Securities predicts that global solid-state battery shipments will grow rapidly in the future, and the market space is expected to reach more than 150 billion yuan by 2030.

Based on the optimistic outlook for semi-solid and solid-state batteries, both traditional battery companies and new technology companies are increasing their investment. Traditional battery companies including CATL, Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solution, EVE Energy, Guoxuan High-tech, Honeycomb Energy, Farasis Energy, Sunwoda, Jiewei Power, BYD, etc. are all conducting research and development of semi-solid and solid-state battery technologies; while new forces such as ProLogium Technology, Zhejiang Fengli, Weilan New Energy, Qingtao Energy, SES, QuantumScape, Tailan New Energy, etc. are directly entering the market from the semi-solid and solid-state routes.

In fact, in order to seize the "initiative" in the next-generation battery technology route, heavyweight automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, NIO, SAIC, Geely, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota have also entered the solid-state battery track through equity and investment channels.

At the same time, solid-state batteries have also become the focus of social capital's investment.

In March this year, Weilan New Energy completed a new round of financing, and Weilan New Energy simultaneously changed its business information, adding Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Fund, Huawei's affiliated company Habo Investment, Geely Holding's Geely Blue Plan and other shareholders. The registered capital increased to 61.367 million yuan, an increase of 5.7%.

In June this year, Tailan New Energy announced the completion of a multi-billion-yuan A++ round of financing, led by CICC Capital and China Merchants Venture Capital, and participated by well-known investment institutions such as Tsinghua Research Capital, Holocene Capital, and Guoding Capital. This financing is the company's second financing in the first half of this year. In March this year, Tailan New Energy announced the completion of an A+ round of financing exclusively invested by Country Garden Venture Capital.