Mercedes-Benz Energy, part of the large automotive OEM, has expanded its range of second life energy storage partnerships into India through a 50MWh per annum module supply deal with local firm Lohum.
The two companies announced a strategic partnership with a 50MWh per annum multi-year supply agreement yesterday (4 January). It is Mercedes-Benz Energy’s (MBE) first partner for second life energy storage applications in Asia.
MBE will supply multiple second life module variants to Lohum, a company which claims to be India’s largest producer of sustainable lithium-ion battery raw materials through recycling, repurposing and refining. Part of this is developing second life energy storage applications which Lohum also claims makes it the only integrated battery recyling and re-use company in the world.
However, the fact that Swedish recycling firm Stena also owns the second life energy storage solution firm BatteryLoop makes that claim hard to justify without further explanation. Energy-Storage.news has asked the company to clarify. BatteryLoop also has a supply deal with MBE and will update this article when a response is received.
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The company does offer a buy-back guarantee to its second life energy storage customers, taking the modules at the end of their second life and recycling them at its hydromet plant.
Lohum designs its second life products for the stationary and ‘non-auto mobility’ storage markets in India. The latter includes E-bikes, other two-wheelers and three-wheelers like rickshaws. For stationary applications its applications range from 6kWh to 1MWh.
“Lohum is thinking about 2nd life in a very different way than most companies,” said Gordon Gassman, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Energy.
“Theirs is a truly long-term focus with a keen understanding that one of the biggest challenges for 2nd life is the unpredictability of feedstock supply and composition. Lohum is developing expertise and applications across multiple module variants to create a long-term supply funnel. This flexibility and model unlocks value for both parties and defines the innovation and reliability we seek in strategic partnerships.”
Mercedes-Benz entered the stationary energy storage system (ESS) market in 2016 but its interest in the sector appeared to fizzle out in the following years. However, the company made a return to the sector through MBE in April 2022 when it announced the partnership with BatteryLoop, mentioned earlier, and it is now one of the leading automotive OEMs when it comes to working with companies on second life energy storage solutions.
See all Energy-Storage.news coverage of the second life energy storage market here.
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