Australian battery maker opens first facility in Victoria, lands federal funds for expansion

The federal Labor government has kicked in $1.7 million so Australia battery maker Li-S Energy can build the next stage of its Geelong factory, a lithium foil manufacturing division. 

Li-S Energy has built a 2 megawatt hour (MWh) lithium sulfur battery factory in Victoria, a facility that covers everything from creating and coating cathode powders to final cell fabrication and testing.

Li-S Energy has developed a twenty-layer battery cell using its third-generation (GEN3) semi-solid state lithium sulfur technology which packs in 45 per cent more energy density and is safer and more reliable than lithium-ion batteries.

Last week, the company opened its pouch cell production facility in Geelong, and in May showed off its testing centre by showing that its batteries are ‘stab-proof’ – in a test that drives a nail through the cell to see if it will explode. 

Li-S Energy’s patented Li-nanomesh technology incorporates Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNTs) into the cell construction to reduce dendrite growth, which improves both safety and the life cycle of the battery.

Dendrites – projections of metal that build up on the lithium surface of cells and penetrate into the solid electrolyte – eventually cross from one electrode to the other, shorting the cell.

The company expects to deliver its first cells from the Phase 3 facility for testing by the end of September, and to start ordering key parts for the lithium foil production line in 2024. 

The lightweight batteries are a “gamechanger” for the aviation and drone industry as they extend range, flight-time and payload of unmanned machines and open up new uses in surveillance, agricultural monitoring and security, said Mark Xavier, CEO of Li-S Energy partner VTOL Aerospace.

Making foil for anodes at home

The latest in grant funding for Li-S Energy comes from the $392 million federal Industry Growth Program (IGP) to make a part for the batteries that currently must be imported and redesigned to work with lithium sulfur cells.  

Lithium metal foil is used as the anode for both lithium sulfur and lithium metal batteries. The idea is to create a new sovereign manufacturing capability for Australia, reducing supply chain risk and increasing the value of Australia’s advanced battery material exports.

Li-S Energy plans to export the foils into what it says is a growing market. 

“With global demand for lithium metal foil forecast to reach US$51 billion by 2032, Australia has a unique opportunity to capitalise on this emerging market to produce lithium foils here, adding value here, before exporting this high-value product to global markets,” says Li-S Energy CEO Dr Lee Finniear.

“With the support of the IGP grant we can build Australia’s first lithium metal foil manufacturing line.”

Other recipients of the IGP grant are Cauldron Molecules, which received $4.3 million to make a world-first, fully automated hyper-fermentation technology to make food, animal feed, fibre and fuel; Electrogenics Laboratories which received $1 million for its MOSkin patient radiation dose measurement system to reduce exposure risk during radiotherapy treatments; Brandsec which received $231,000 for its Unphish software tool which can remove malicious phishing content from the internet; and Forager Automation which gleaned $157,943 for the development of its robotic blueberry picking device.

“Making more things here, strengthening supply chains and keeping our know-how and talent onshore where it belongs – that’s what a Future Made in Australia is all about,” said industry and science minister Ed Husic last week in Geelong. 

“Great Aussie ideas can create great Aussie businesses and new Aussie jobs, but in their early years the ideas of these firms can come to a dead-end without critical support.”