St Baker battery giga factory starts commercial production in the Philippines

A gigawatt-scale battery manufacturing plant backed by – and named after – the energy innovation vehicle of former Australian coal baron Trevor St Baker has begun commercial production in the Philippines.

The StB Giga Factory was officially launched on Monday by Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at a ceremony at the New Clark City plant attended by St Baker and the managing partner of his StB Capital Partners fund, Chris Hay.

Construction of the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery factory began in July 2023 with a strategic investment from StB Capital Partners and its Chinese joint development partners. 

The plant will initially have a production capacity of 300MWh a year – the equivalent of about 30,000 home battery storage systems – which will supply the local Philippines market, its Asian neighbours, as well as Australia and US.

But in March of this year, the joint venture partners agreed to “rapidly scale” the factory and boost production to 2GWh of battery storage by 2030, or earlier. The plant currently employs about 40 workers, but this number is expected to grow towards 150 by next year – and to 500 at full 2GWh capacity.  

“StB Giga Factory is positioned to capture the once-in-a-century transition towards a renewable energy electricity system, in which LFP batteries are expected to play a pivotal role,’’ St Baker said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“It realises our vision to transform the Southeast Asian energy storage landscape by producing advanced LFP batteries for residential, industrial and utility scale Battery Energy Storage Systems as well as Electric Vehicles (EV) and Electric Charging Stations,” St Baker said.

“Next generation batteries are the cornerstone of the energy transition, powering sustainable infrastructure and clean transport systems from battery energy storage systems (BESS) and electric vehicles to EV charging,’’ Hay added.

Lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries are generally favoured for use in large and small-scale energy storage systems, rather than for use in electric vehicles.

Hay says the StB Giga Factory is expected to satisfy early demand for purpose-designed batteries used to support public EV DC fast charge stations and to cater to demand from “millions of homes” and larger-scale applications like sporting and entertainment venues and retail premises.
 
He says that Capital Partners is keen to collaborate with other “strategically minded partners” to realise the scale of opportunity presented with the StB Giga-Factory and support the group’s mission to promote sustainable energy solutions.

“Together, we are not just building factories or installing solar panels and batteries; we are laying the groundwork for a sustainable and prosperous future in both our countries,” St Baker told the Philippine Business Forum at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in March.

“This initiative underscores our dedication to not only manufacturing sustainable energy solutions but also actively contributing to the renewable energy infrastructure of the Philippines.”