Australia-based, global battery manufacturer Gelion, fresh from acquiring the IP for a lithium-silicon-sulfur (LiSiS) battery technology, developed at the University of Sydney, is calling for the federal government’s national battery strategy to focus on Australian tech.
The recent purchase is part of a string of major acquisitions of sulfur and silicon anode patents for the company, originally a University of Sydney spinout, in pursuit of its goal to develop the “world’s best battery”.
The company says it hopes this will demonstrate the wisdom of incorporating Australia’s world-leading research and manufacturing know-how in the design of the Federal Government’s National Battery Strategy.
Safe, reliable, high-performance batteries
LiSiS batteries are safer, have higher performance, and cost less, all thanks to a low-cost sulfur cathode that is more stable at higher temperatures than traditional lithium cathodes. Lithium cathodes can be a notorious fire hazard if managed improperly or exposed to high temperatures (for example, in a car crash).
Gelion hopes that the LiSiS batteries, with a high gravimetric energy density, would enabled EV drivers to travel further and open up the possibility of more elusive technologies like electric aviation.
The newly acquired IP includes additives that capture polysulfides at the cathode, extending the battery’s life cycle.
Gelion says it anticipates that the new technology will allow it to commercialise its fabled “world’s best” battery faster, because it can be integrated alongside standard lithium battery production processes. That’s compared with other options such as solid-state battery technologies, which currently involve significant additional costs.
Gelion’s existing offering also includes the zinc-bromide Endure battery for stationary energy storage, which it began producing and shipping internationally from a facility in Sydney last year.
National Battery Strategy: an opportunity to build a thriving economic sector
The company has thrown its weight behind the Federal Government’s establishment of a National Battery Strategy, consultations for which closed on March 17.
The Strategy aims to capitalise on Australia’s existing strengths in mining and mineral processing to capture the value chain of a burgeoning battery industry – demand for which will only skyrocket as countries around the globe transition away from fossil fuels.
By 2040, the International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates demand for lithium will grow forty-fold.
Rather than focussing solely on the mining, processing and export of raw battery materials, Gelion says the breadth of research and manufacturing capability in Australia means the opportunity is there to capture almost the entire battery value chain onshore.
“Australia produces world-class battery research, and is a leader in mining and supply of battery minerals,” said Gelion CEO John Wood.
“Batteries are becoming a major determinant in the strategic and economic competitiveness of nations. The highest value add for a nation is in the layer above extraction and research that combines process technologies to produce the leading performance batteries.
“Technologies like the LiSiS battery offer Australia the ability to shift beyond its current position as a world leader in battery research, and become a leader in high performance battery development and manufacturing.
“In these times where leading technologies are increasingly being controlled for strategic and economic benefit, it would be high risk for Australia to rely only on importing batteries or licensing technologies from overseas for local manufacture.
“So it would be a healthy addition to the proposed National Battery Strategy to include a specific mandate that we should be manufacturing Australian developed advanced battery technologies in Australia.
“The good news is that technology like Gelion’s new LiSiS battery additives, when combined with other exciting new Australian-owned battery IP, present a clear opportunity for Australia to become a renewable energy super power, manufacturing the world’s best batteries on home soil, and then supplying this to the world.
“If we get the National Battery Strategy right, this could create billions of dollars of economic value and thousands of jobs. This is what we will be recommending to the government in our response to the request for industry input.”
