In a double-whammy of NMC battery news, SolarEdge has started shipping cells from its new South Korea gigafactory while Lechlanché has claimed a breakthrough in environmentally-friendly cell production.

FREYR Battery, a European startup developing advanced lithium-ion battery cells for mass production, has signed a 31GWh off-take agreement with an energy storage system manufacturer. 

A new joint venture (JV) is evaluating building battery cell gigafactories in the US, based on advanced lithium-ion technologies, formed by investor Koch Strategic Platforms and manufacturer FREYR Battery. 

An agreement has been signed which could lead to a multi-gigawatt lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility being built near Chennai, India, using 24M’s advanced ‘SemiSolid’ electrode technology. 

A subsidiary of Russian state-owned nuclear technology and electric utility company Rosatom, will establish domestic lithium-ion battery cell and manufacturing facilities, following a deal to acquire 49% of South Korean company Enertech International.

The lion’s share of new funding announced this week to help scale-up potentially disruptive technologies by the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) of the US government Department of Energy (DOE) will go to battery and smart grid technologies.

Let’s take a look at the news stories that had the most page views on the site since the beginning of 2020. The list covers everything from always-in-focus topics of cost reduction and competitiveness, to fire safety, innovation and commercialisation of new technologies and, of course in this year, COVID-19.

With dozens of massive new lithium-ion battery factories planned or already under construction in Europe, Panasonic and Equinor are investigating the potential for a “green battery business” in Norway.

An examination, analysis and perspectives on the takeaways and highlights beyond the hype of Tesla’s latest and most ambitious plans yet, from market analysts, technologists and more.

While the performance of lithium batteries has increased tremendously, there’s still room for improvement to lower cost, increase sustainability and maximise their impact on decarbonisation, says Marcos Ierides, consultant and materials expert at innovation consultancy Bax & Company.