Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry Co (Aleees, 立凱電能) authorized Australia’s Avenira Ltd to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) for batteries in Darwin when the two companies signed a license and technology transfer agreement yesterday.
With the assistance of the Northern Territory Government, Avenira would build and operate manufacturing facilities at the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct in Darwin Harbor to produce LFP, a cathode material used in batteries, Aleees said in a statement.
LFP is a critical material used in electric vehicles or energy storage batteries. It determines the battery’s capacity, safety and durability.
Photo courtesy of Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry Co
“This agreement gives Avenira a worldwide license to produce and sell LFP cathode material based on Aleees’ technology and to build production facilities, leveraging Aleees’ industry expertise,” the Taiwanese company said.
The deal would also help upgrade the value chain of Australia’s lithium and phosphate mining industries to serve global markets, and reinforce the value chain of the lithium battery in Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the Indo-Pacific region to counterbalance China, Aleees said.
The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, only saying that it would positively affect its finances and business.
The project has been included in a first wave of subsidies from the Australian government, it added.
Aleees and Avenira signed a memorandum of understanding in September last year to work together with the Northern Territory Government in pushing forward the battery material plant.
The project is expected to bring significant economic and strategic opportunities to the region, as it would be the first commercial-scale facility of its kind in Australia, with an annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes of LFP, Aleees said.
The plant is forecast to create more than 500 jobs during its construction and another 100 when it starts operations, Aleees said, citing an estimate from the Northern Territory Government.
It would increase the number of positions to 300 and generate up to A$1.5 billion (US$961.7 million) annually to the region’s economy, it said.
Aleees’ combined revenue increased 123.48 percent annually in the first eight months of this year to NT$648.77 million (US$20.13 million), but the company’s net losses expanded to NT$235.79 million in the first half of the year from NT$187.17 million a year earlier, with losses per share of NT$3.37, company data showed.
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