The Norwegian company plans to build a production line for lithium-sulphur batteries using a patent from the Czech scientist

Two years ago, Tomáš Kazda from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication at BUT applied for a European patent for the modification of lithium-sulphur battery cells, which, according to him, mean the future in the field of electricity storage. This patented modification of the electrodes made it possible to maintain a similar number of charging cycles of lithium-sulphur batteries, which we have got used to with commonly available batteries today, but with higher capacity. The research at the Brno University of Technology was created in cooperation with the Norwegian company which has recently informed the public about the planned construction of the new factory with world's first lithium-sulphur production line.

The planned production of the factory should reach a total capacity of 32 GWh/year. There will be 4 separate modules with a supply of 8 GWh/year and about 2,500 employees could work here. The construction will begin next year and the first part is to be completed in 2024. The main customers should be mainly European car manufacturers. "Currently, more than 60 % of Li-ion batteries produced go to the automotive sector, not only for electric cars but also for electric buses. The main customer is therefore clearly transportation market. Electric trains are also being produced, which will enable battery travel in areas where the track is no longer electrified,” Tomáš Kazda indicated the great potential of this industry.

In addition to conventional Li-ion batteries, the Norwegian manufacturer wants to gradually offer an ecological alternative, so one of the modules of the planned factory should also include a production line for a new type of lithium-sulphur batteries. If their production proves successful, it will be the first production of this kind in the world. The new factory should grow in the coming years in the south of Norway, specifically in the Agder region, where it will be easily accessible to European markets.

While in the Czech Republic purely electric cars make up about 1.3 % of all newly sold cars, in Norway their percentage is the highest in Europe. About 60 % of the cars sold in Norway this spring were purely electric. In the Czech Republic, about 5,000 electric cars run on the roads, but even here there is a noticeable year-on-year increase in sales. Experts expect the electromobility market to grow by up to 1,450 % over the next decade, bringing the European battery market to as much as 90 billion euros.