Sicona to produce battery anodes in the US

Sicona Battery Technologies has chosen the south-eastern United States near the heart of battery and electric vehicle manufacturing for the development of its first commercial production facilities.

By leveraging low cost and abundant silicon metal, Sicona claims its SiCx battery anode materials technology increases the energy density of lithium-ion batteries by 20 percent.

Having recently completed front-end engineering design studies with engineering and construction company Bechtel Corporation, Sicona will begin phased development of a 6,700 tonne per annum (tpa) silicon-carbon anode materials production plant.

By the early 2030s, Sicona plans to expand its US production to an output of 26,500 tpa, enough silicon-carbon anode materials to power more than 3.25 million vehicles (EVs).

Sicona CEO Christiaan Jordaan (pictured) said: “Sicona’s vision is to be the largest silicon-carbon battery materials producer in the world and today’s announcement is the first major step towards the realisation of that goal.

“We believe by going mass scale with our technology we can have maximum impact on increasing the adoption of electric vehicles.

“This is because our product has a real impact on the charge time of an electric vehicle or how far you can drive your EV before recharging, which are two major factors holding people back from buying an EV.”

To support its US manufacturing plans, Sicona has begun supplying product samples and initiated offtake discussions with potential customers.

Sicona has developed mechanical silicon metal reduction technologies that create uniform nanoparticles. Further carbon coating processes create the finished anode materials.

Jordaan said: “We are proud to be an Australian company leading the charge on the global stage and working with our valued partners like Bechtel to establish our first production facilities in the United States.

Picture: Sicona founders Dr Andrew Minnet and Christiaan Jordaan (right)