International Battery and Hydro-Québec to Collaborate on Water-Based Manufacturing Processes for Lithium-ion Batteries
March 14, 2011 – Allentown, Pa – International Battery (www.internationalbattery.com), a U.S. manufacturer, designer and developer of large-format Lithium-ion rechargeable cells, batteries and energy storage systems (ESS), announces it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Hydro-Québec with the purpose to further develop water-based manufacturing processes of Lithium-ion batteries.
Hydro-Québec is a world leader in advanced Lithium and Lithium-ion battery research and has a strong intellectual property (IP) position for aqueous electrode technology. As early as 1996, Hydro-Québec started working on water-based manufacturing processes for Lithium-ion batteries.
Since 2008, International Battery, in its plant in Allentown, has extended the manufacturing properties of the water-based process and has successfully produced large-format prismatic Lithium-ion battery cells for a variety of applications using this method. International Battery is the first company in North America to produce commercial Lithium-ion products using a water-based manufacturing process.
Both companies believe that there are significant environmental advantages by using a water-based process in the manufacture of Lithium-ion cells as well as a reduction in manufacturing costs.
“Working together with Hydro-Québec will help accelerate our development,” said International Battery’s President and CEO, Dr. Ake Almgren. “With our focus on applications for renewable energy integration and smart grid, we are excited about the opportunity to work with such a world-class electric utility.”
“We have tested their battery cells and are very impressed with the performance,” said Dr. Karim Zaghib, Administrator, Energy Storage and Conversion Department (SCE) at Hydro-Québec’s Research Institute (IREQ).
As part of the joint collaboration, the companies plan to expand water-based manufacturing processes for additional lithium chemistries.
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