TAGS: New Energy Solutions
Asahi Kasei’s wholly owned subsidiary Polypore and Shanghai Energy New Materials Technology (SEM-CORP) established a joint venture for dry-process lithium-ion battery separators in China. The production is scheduled to start in 2022 with a capacity of 100 million m2/year with plans to raise capacity to 1 billion m2/year by around 2028 in line with demand growth.
Dry-process Separator for LIBs
Based on a license from Polypore’s subsidiary Celgard, for technology and intellectual property related to dry-process polypropylene (PP) separator, the joint venture will manufacture and sell high-quality, high-performance dry-process separator in China for LIBs used in energy storage systems (ESS) and electric-drive vehicles (EDVs). The agreement for the establishment of the joint venture was reached in January 2021.
The LIB market in China is the world’s largest and growing rapidly centered on EDV applications. As the Chinese government enacts policies for decarbonization, significant additional growth is forecasted in ESS applications in combination with renewable energy. The new joint venture is expected to meet growing demand for dry-process separators for ESS applications.
The joint venture will leverage Celgard’s cutting-edge dry-process separator production process technology, quality control know-how, and intellectual property rights in combination with SEM-CORP’s top-level production process control and cost control capabilities in China to expand in the Chinese LIB market for ESS applications.
Corporate profile of the joint venture
- Company name Jiangxi Enpo New Materials Co., Ltd.
- Location Gaoan City, Jiangxi Province, People’s Republic of China
- Paid-in capital CNY 84 million (incremental rise to 454 million planned)
- Ownership SEMCORP 51%, Polypore 49% (each indirectly through a subsidiary)
- Operations Manufacture and sale of dry-process LIB separator
- Capacity 100 million m2/year by mid-2022; 1 billion m2/year by 2028 planned
Advanced Solutions for Increasing Demand
The joint venture will provide advanced solutions to meet rapidly growing demand for LIB separator by adopting Celgard’s cutting-edge dry-process membrane technology, manufacturing know-how, and equipment through its technology license for single-layer PP and coextruded multi-layer PP membrane. It is scheduled to start production in 2022 with a capacity of 100 million m2/year with plans to raise capacity to 1 billion m2/year by around 2028 in line with demand growth.
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By joining Celgard’s specialized knowledge in technology, processing, and material science together with SEMCORP’s outstanding management ability in China, the joint venture will not only be able to provide a wide range of solutions to customers but also stimulate further development of the LIB industry overall,” notes Celgard President Lie Shi.
“I am thrilled to have this partnership with SEMCORP. The joint venture will supply highly cost-competitive high-performance separator for LIBs in China for ESS and EDV applications. The combination of our two companies’ strengths will provide new solutions for the world’s challenges related to the environment and energy.”
“This joint venture will let us capture a huge opportunity in the ESS market with dry-process separator just like SEMCORP captured an opportunity in the EDV market with wet-process separator,” adds SEMCORP Chairman and CEO Paul Xiaoming Lee.
“By combining Celgard’s highest-level technology and know-how with SEMCORP’s rich operational experience in China, track record of mass-producing high-quality separator, and cost-competitiveness, this joint venture with Polypore will be a revolutionary supplier of dry-process separator.”
Source: Asahi Kasei
