Altech Advanced Materials AG: Altech enters into joint venture with Fraunhofer IKTS to manufacture solid-state batteries

Heidelberg (pta/13.09.2022/19:30 UTC+2)

• Altech Group to hold 75% in the joint venture to commercialise solid-state sodium-alumina battery with Fraunhofer-Institut für Keramische Technologien und Systeme IKTS
• 100 MWh/a CERENERGY® battery project in Schwarze Pumpe, Saxony
• The technology, which has been developed by IKTS for over ten years, is now entering the stage of final industrial product development for global marketing
• Research and development for the implementation of the detailed profitability study is significantly accompanied by Fraunhofer IKTS.

Altech Advanced Materials AG (AAM / the Company) (FRA: AMA1) together with Altech Chemicals Limited, Australia has formed a subsidiary, Altech Energy Holdings (Altech Group). Altech Advanced Materials holds a 25% stake in the new Altech Energy Holdings.

Altech Group has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS), a leading German battery institute, to commercialise a solid-state sodium-alumina battery (CERENERGY®). For this purpose, Altech Batteries GmbH will be founded jointly, with Altech Energy Holding GmbH owning 75 %. The aim of Altech Batteries GmbH is to build a production plant for CERENERGY® solid-state batteries. The first line with an annual output of 100 MWh is to be implemented at the Schwarze Pumpe site in Saxony.

In CERENERGY® batteries, high-purity aluminum oxide is used for the ceramic solid electrolyte, and the cathode medium used is only common salt and not lithium. CERENERGY® technology has been intensively further developed and improved by Fraunhofer IKTS over the past ten years. Batteries of the type "CERENERGY®" have already been successfully tested in stationary battery modules. The IKTS CERENERGY® batteries are in the last phase of industrial product development and are ready for commercialisation.

Explanatory notes

CERENERGY®, sodium alumina solid state batteries, also known as sodium nickel chloride batteries, have enormous potential to be the grid battery storage of the future.

Compared to lithium-ion batteries, CERENERGY® batteries have a number of advantages. These include, among others:

• No use of critical raw materials such as lithium and cobalt
• Fire and explosion proof without thermal runaway (not flammable)
• Wide temperature application range: CERENERGY® batteries can be operated efficiently between minus 20°C and plus 60°C and guarantee high performance and durability regardless of the ambient temperature and do not require complex external thermal management.
• Long service life: Scientific studies have shown that there is almost no aging with this type of battery, there are no factors such as sodium ion depletion with each charge and discharge, no first cycle loss, no harmful side reactions, no dendrite growth or breakdown of the anodes - and cathode structures that reduce the lifetime of the battery.

The joint venture is planning to develop a 100 MWh CERENERGY® battery plant on the Altech site in Saxony. Target markets are grid-connected (stationary) energy storage systems, for example for renewable energies (wind, solar) and in industry as well as private households - mainly as energy storage to ensure a buffer between electricity generation and electricity consumption, but also as mega parks for energy suppliers to avoid high energy prices through peak shaving. Stationary energy storage systems are also an essential part of the e-mobility charging infrastructure. Annual growth of 28% is expected for these systems over the coming decades. According to renowned studies, the global market volume for battery storage systems is expected to increase from USD 4.4 billion in 2022 to USD 15.1 billion in 2027. In 2020, the worldwide capacity of existing stationary energy storage systems was 20 GW. Capacity is expected to increase to 3,000 GW by 2050. Resource-saving CERENERGY® batteries can offer high security with low acquisition and operating costs for the stationary energy storage market.

A first line of the planned battery factory for 100MWh will produce 10,000 battery modules per year with a capacity of 10 KWh each. Fraunhofer IKTS estimates that the manufacturing costs of CERENERGY® batteries will be 40% lower than those of comparable lithium-ion batteries.

"The much more environmentally friendly CERENERGY® batteries with their significantly longer lifetime have the potential to revolutionise the market for stationary batteries. Thanks to the technological development of the IKTS and the industrial production now planned, we will jointly set a new environmentally friendly and efficient standard for stationary batteries. As storage devices for renewable energy, our solid-state batteries are an important building block for the ongoing decarbonisation of energy generation and for mitigating climate change," says Uwe Ahrens, member of the Management Board of Altech Advanced Materials.

For more information on the joint venture with Fraunhofer IKTS regarding CERENERGY®, please visit:

https://www.altechadvancedmaterials.com/en/cerenergy

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Emitter:	Altech Advanced Materials AG Ziegelhäuser Landstraße 3 69120 Heidelberg Germany
Contact Person:	Hansjörg Plaggemars
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