Some things happen in Germany at the moment...
BMZ Acquired TerraE To Push Plans For German Li-Ion Cell Production
KARLSTEIN, Germany – The BMZ Group took over the Frankfurt-based TerraE Holding GmbH. In May 2017 the TerraE consortium was founded by three investors with the intention to build a factory for large-scale li-ion cell production. Last month German media reported that the project didn’t take off successfully. Yesterday BMZ reported the take-over of the majority of shares.
‘We expect a huge demand for battery cells,’ says BMZ CEO Sven Bauer. – Photo Bike Europe
The BMZ Group, the largest producer of lithium-ion battery systems in Europe, plans to start the production of li-ion cells by 2020. TerraE will be managed by Sven Bauer, CEO & Founder of the BMZ Group, and will resume its business operations soon. The acquisition includes the Dresden based TerraE Engineering GmbH.
German cell production
According to a statement by TerraE Holding, “BMZ already invested 120 million euro in the expansion of battery production lines. We will continue to pursue the start-up of li-ion cell production on our home market Germany. More than ever, Germany needs its own cell production and BMZ is the best shareholder that one can have on board for this challenge,” said the TerraE spokesman.
Huge demand expected
“We are pleased continue our initiatives for a German li-ion cell production with the takeover of TerraE,” says BMZ CEO Sven Bauer. “We expect an huge demand for battery cells in our own country. Especially for our automotive and electromobility customers we will use the cells produced by TerraE to build high-tech battery systems.”
BMZ already claims to supply Germany’s largest electric vehicle fleet with lithium-ion battery packs. “Even newcomers, who have announced the first mass-market e-vehicles for 2019, rely on the 25-year experience of our battery experts,” says Bauer.
Fab4Lib consortium
All 19 European companies and institutes, who partner in the Fab4Lib consortium led by TerraE Holding, will stay on board the project. As planned, Fab4Lib will deliver results on competitive production of lithium-ion technology, which will be incorporated directly in the large-scale serial production of battery cells. The funding project will also continue discussions with several federal authorities regarding the choice of a production location.
Production start 2020
BMZ announced to invest approximately 300 million euro for the 4 GWh output planned in the first phase. In the medium term TerraE aims for a cell production with a volume of 8 GWh.
