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Washington plant marks the rise of the Pacific Northwest as a lithium-ion supply chain hub
Woodinville, WA & Moses Lake, WA (October 13, 2020) – Today Group14 Technologies (Group14), a global provider of silicon-carbon composite materials for global lithium-ion (Li-ion) markets, and REC Silicon ASA (REC Silicon), the leading producer of advanced silicon materials, announced the two are partnering to develop a full-scale, co-located commercial production facility at REC Silicon’s Moses Lake plant.
The facility underlines Group14 and REC Silicon’s collaboration in relation to ongoing pilot plant production and testing at REC Silicon’s FBR polysilicon and silane gas plant in Moses Lake, WA. The large-scale commercial facility will be the first and largest silicon-carbon anode material plant globally that will enable lithium-silicon batteries and accelerate the electrification of everything. The full-scale facility is expected to break ground in 2021, with the capacity to bring 12,000 tons/year of advanced silicon battery materials to the global Li-ion market by 2023.
The milestone comes on the heels of a $3.96M Department of Energy grant for Group14, with the company serving as the lead for a lithium ion-focused project out of the Vehicle Technologies Office. These consecutive moves underscore the dramatic uptick in demand for domestic U.S.-based, sustainably-sourced lithium-ion ecosystems. Located in Moses Lake, the facility will be powered by clean hydro-electric power and has been designed to be carbon-neutral.
“At its core, this partnership is aimed at driving battery innovation forward to meet demand for next-generation Li-ion batteries,” said Tore Torvund, CEO & President, REC Silicon. “With Group14, we’re creating a domestic supply chain capable of producing industrial-scale levels of innovative battery materials.”
As the world’s largest and tier 1 producer of silane gas, REC Silicon has invested over $1.7 billion in the state of Washington, and Group14’s new partnership with REC Silicon in relation to the anode material production facility signals its long-term commitment to economic growth in Moses Lake. The state-of-the-art facility, co-located with REC Silicon’s Moses Lake plant for ease of integration with REC Silicon’s silane supply, is a clear indication of Group14’s intent to build out a domestic supply chain to meet the increasing demand for its silicon-composite material for lithium-ion batteries, SCC55.
A leader in battery storage technology, Group14 is commercializing its breakthrough high capacity silicon-carbon anode technology to replace graphite in conventional lithium-ion batteries and deliver dramatically more energy density at a lower cost. Group14’s material will be critical in delivering batteries that will meet the increasing demand for high-performing lithium-ion-based storage with application-specific performance range across diverse markets including electric vehicles, consumer electronics, medical devices and aerospace.
“We are looking ahead to mitigate potential global supply chain disruptions, and this partnership with REC Silicon in our home state of Washington allows us to source a key commodity precursor locally, reliably and sustainably,” said Rick Luebbe, Co-Founder and CEO, Group14 Technologies. “REC Silicon produces the highest-quality silane with the lowest carbon footprint, allowing us to develop clean lithium-silicon battery materials to enable the electrification of everything.”
About Group14 Technologies
Founded to enable the coming electrification of everything, Group14’s battery materials breakthrough brings new levels of energy performance to Lithium ion-powered devices and vehicles. Recognized by the Department of Energy for its novel, drop-in ready nanomaterials and reliable industrial-scale process, Group14 serves the global transition to an all-electric future with tunable performance for any use case. Visit us at www.group14.technology.
Group14 Investor Overview
ATL (Amperex Technologies Limited), a subsidiary of a world-renowned multi-national corporation, based in Hong Kong with manufacturing operations in China, is a world-leading producer and innovator of lithium-ion batteries. BASF Venture Capital (BVC), the U.S.-based venture arm of BASF SE, focuses its investment on chemical products and new materials, software and services as well as innovative and digital business models in the broader field of chemistry.Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT), a U.S.-based leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials, has delivered innovative performance solutions to customers for over 135 years and is a leading provider of rubber and specialty carbons, fumed metal oxides, masterbatches and conductive compounds, activated carbon, inkjet colorants and inks, and aerogels.Showa Denko (SDK), a leading Japanese materials company headquartered in Tokyo, produces graphite anode material, vapor grown carbon fiber, aluminum-laminate packaging material, anode binder, and otherpSecialty materials for Li-ion batteries.OVP Venture Partners is one of the Pacific Northwest’s original venture capital firms. OVP’s investing partner and board member in Group14 is Gerry Langeler.
About REC Silicon
REC Silicon is a leading producer of advanced silicon materials, delivering high-purity polysilicon and silicon gas to the solar and electronics industries worldwide. REC Silicon combines over 30 years of experience and proprietary technology with the needs of its customers, with annual production capacity of more than 20,000 MT of polysilicon from two US-based manufacturing plants. Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: REC), the Company is headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. For more information, go to www.recsilicon.com.
Media Contacts
Group14
Mission Control Communications (mc²) for Group14
group14@missionc2.com
REC Silicon
Francine Sullivan
Vice President Business Development
Francine.sullivan@recsilicon.com