Australian battery materials innovator Sicona Battery Technologies is expanding into the fast-growing US battery component market, developing its first commercial production facilities in the southeast.
Having completed front-end engineering design studies with global engineering leader Bechtel, Sicona will build a 6,700-tonne-per-annum (tpa) silicon-carbon anode materials production plant in phases. This development will make Sicona the largest producer of silicon-carbon anode materials in the US, surpassing the approximately 5,800 tpa total silicon-carbon plants under construction and development in the northwest.
By the early 2030s, Sicona plans to expand its US production to a total output of 26,500 tpa, enough silicon-carbon anode materials to power more than 10 million American electric vehicles (EVs).
Sicona’s silicon-carbon anode materials can significantly improve today’s EVs through increased range and reduced charge times, which are known major inhibiting factors to rapid EV adoption in the US, and critical elements in achieving the stated US goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by ~52% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Leveraging its extensive intellectual property portfolio, Sicona produces Silicon-Carbon (Sicona SiC) anode materials that supercharge Lithium-ion batteries, delivering a 20%-plus increase in energy density over conventional graphite-only Lithium-ion battery cells and reducing charge times by more than 40%.
Furthermore, Sicona’s technology does not rely on expensive, dangerous, bottlenecked, or emissions-intensive supply chains such as silane gas. This enables Sicona’s customers to access unmatched prices and scale for maximum positive impacts of a “drop-in” material without incurring significant costs and disruptive reengineering in their battery production facilities.
Utilizing a top-down process, Sicona has cracked highly efficient mechanical silicon metal reduction to create uniform nanoparticles. Further treatment in specialized carbon coating processes creates the unique material qualities that customers demand.
To support its US manufacturing plans, Sicona has begun supplying product samples and initiating offtake discussions with cornerstone customers, with qualification activities expected to ramp up significantly over the coming 12–18 months.
“Sicona’s vision is to be the largest silicon-carbon battery materials producer in the world, and today’s announcement is the first major step towards the realization of that goal,” said Mr. Jordaan. “We believe by going mass scale with our technology, we can have maximum impact on increasing the adoption of electric vehicles. This is because our product has a real impact on the charge time of an electric vehicle or how far you can drive your EV before recharging, which are two major factors holding people back from buying an EV.”
“We are proud to be an Australian company leading the charge on the global stage and working with our valued partners like Bechtel to establish our first production facilities in the United States. We believe our proposed project in will promote a sustainable energy future that expands and secures the domestic US battery ecosystem and creates high-quality jobs and economic opportunities for the local community.”
“As the world works to lower its carbon footprint, Bechtel provides the predictability needed to realize design and construction of new battery value chain projects,” said , Bechtel’s General Manager for Electric Vehicles in Manufacturing & Technology. “Bechtel provides a full array of project delivery services so our customers can realize their vision.”
