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Australia start-up to build US$210 million China-free lithium-ion battery plant to ‘power the next 100 years’

  • Recharge Industries Pty’s factory in southeastern Australia plans to begin production by late 2024, with an initial annual capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours
  • Company founder David Collard said its batteries won’t use cobalt or nickel and also avoid any materials from Russia

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A lithium battery manufacturing company in Huaibei, eastern China’s Anhui province. File photo: AFP
Bloomberg
An Australia-based start-up is planning a A$300 million (US$210 million) factory to build lithium-ion batteries free of materials from China, as carmakers to utilities seek alternatives to the industry’s dominant producer.
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Recharge Industries Pty aims to start construction on the site in Geelong in southeastern Australia in the second half of this year and begin production by late 2024, founder David A. Collard said in an interview.

The operation will have an initial annual capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours – rising to an eventual planned total of 30 gigawatt-hours – and has sales agreements in place with Indian energy storage projects, he said.

“Australia is the new Saudi Arabia of the new energy age,” said Collard, a former PwC LLP partner. “We have all the key critical minerals to power the next 100 years.” The nation currently has a pipeline of 25.6 gigawatt-hours of battery production projects, according to BloombergNEF data.

Nations including the US, Australia and India are pushing to expand domestic clean energy manufacturing capacity to help drive their shift away from fossil fuels, all while also attempting to curb their reliance on imports – particularly from China.

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