Gotion is in a joint venture (JV) building a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell gigafactory in Vietnam, targeting the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) markets.
Gotion Inc, a subsidiary of Chinese lithium battery designer and manufacturer Gotion High-Tech has partnered with Vietnamese battery cell and pack maker and battery-as-a-service company VinES in its efforts.
The couple broke into a cell factory last week in an industrial park in Vung Anh Economic Zone, Ha Tinh, Vietnam.
Requiring a nearly US$275 million investment, the 14-hectare production facility has an annual production of 5GWh, equivalent to about 30 million battery cells.
The two companies are funding their joint venture (JV) factory, which they claim has a high level of automation, and optimized production processes.
The cells produced at the factory will be used for two EVs produced by VinFast, another subsidiary of VinES’ parent company, VinGroup. This also applies to VinES ESS products.
VinES CEO Pham Thuy Linh said the factory is an “important component in creating the autonomy of the battery supply for VinFast EVs and aims to develop VinES to become a leading energy solution company”.
It will be located next to VinES’ existing battery pack production facilities, which Pham Thuy Linh said will “complete the closed loop production” of LFP batteries in the country, improving localization for VinGroup’s EV production and optimizing overall production efficiency.
While the chairman of Gotion High-Tech, Li Zhen said that the factory, the first of its kind in Vietnam, is “a part” of Gotion’s global strategy.
Gotion is one of several new additions to a list of battery makers classified as Tier 1 that includes the likes of CATL, LG and Samsung SDI.
In September, solar and storage EPC and O&M provider Borrego selected Gotion High-Tech as a supplier of DC-block battery storage equipment for projects in the US, with deliveries scheduled to begin next year.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the market for battery energy storage systems (BESS) is not yet finished. However, in the past two years, government incentive programs have driven the development of more than 12GW of commercial rooftop solar PV projects, leading many to recognize the need to store energy to help integrate renewable generation into the grid.
The energy markets for the wider Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific region are also beginning to adopt battery storage with notable large-scale projects in the Philippines, Thailand and of course Australia among those covered by this site recently. oh months.
Lithium iron phosphate is becoming an increasingly popular battery sub-chemistry for non-stop energy storage systems, displacing the early market dominance of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC). While lower energy density than NMC, it also costs less and is tied to more widely available cathode materials, meaning EV makers are also increasingly turning to it, especially for shorter ranges. and lower cost vehicles.
The Gotion-VinES factory will go into mass production in Q3 2024, creating about 500 jobs. This will follow VinES’ own 8-hectare packing and production plant, which will begin operations next month.
In fact, the US also has little or no domestic LFP production facilities, although the Israeli company ICL Group is building an LFP cathode factory that will come online in 2024, while other companies such as startups FREYR Battery and American Battery Factory as well as Turkey’s Kontrolmatik are among others. plans to build production capacity there.
Energy-Storage.news publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help shed light on this new, but rapidly growing market, bringing together a community of trusted independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. . For more information, go to the website.
