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- Altech Chemicals’ (ATC) subsidiary, Altech Industries Germany, has begun a pre-feasibility study (PFS) to construct a high-purity alumina (HPA) plant in Germany
- The plant is designed to coat 10,000 tonnes of anode graphite per annum using Altech’s alumina coating technology
- Recently, the company confirmed its technology can coat silicon particles, which major electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla plans to use more of to improve the quality of its batteries
- Once in production, the plant will support Europe’s growing demand for anode graphite which is expected to be 500,000 tonnes of graphite per annum by 2025
- At this stage, it’s unclear how long the PFS will take to complete
- Altech is down 3.79 per cent and shares are trading at 6.4 cents
Altech Chemicals’ (ATC) 75 per cent-owned subsidiary, Altech Industries Germany, has begun a pre-feasibility study (PFS).
The PFS is for the construction of a battery materials high-purity alumina (HPA) coating plant in Saxony, Germany.
The phase one coating plant is designed to coat 10,000 tonnes per annum of anode graphite using Altech’s alumina coating technology.
Altech recently proved its alumina nano-layer technology it can be used to coat silicon particles as well as graphite particles. Like graphite, silicon particles are typically used in lithium-ion battery anodes. However, silicon has 10 times the theoretical energy capacity compared to graphite.
Significantly, U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has announced plans to incorporate more silicon into its batteries to improve energy density and battery life.
Once in production, the plant will support Europe’s growing demand for anode graphite. Europe is expected to require around 500,000 tonnes per annum of graphite for anode production by 2025.
The plant’s layout will facilitate additional production capacity such as a silicon coating plant or more graphite coating capacity.
The PFS will also use 100 per cent renewable power from the local grid with some minor on-site solar generation for buildings to target a green-project status.
Once the study is completed, the project will be accessed for green accreditation by the Centre of International Climate and Environmental Research in Norway.
At this stage, it’s unclear how long the PFS will take to complete.
Altech is down 3.79 per cent and shares are trading at 6.4 cents at 11:16 am AEDT.
