BASF to build new German EV battery materials facility

German chemical giant BASF is to construct a new battery materials production site in Schwarzheide, near Dresden. The new facility is part of the company's investment plan to take part in the European electric vehicle (EV) value chain.

The new production site will manufacture enough cathode active materials (CAM) to supply around 400,000 EVs per year. CAMs increase a lithium-ion batteries performance, helping to make eMobility an increasingly viable option.

The Schwarzheide plant’s modular design and infrastructure allows for the rapid scale-up of manufacturing capacities, which BASF says will enable it to meet increasing demand in the European EV market. The plant in Schwarzheide will use precursors (PCAM) from BASF’s previously announced plant in Harjavalta, Finland. Startup of the two plants is planned for 2022.

“The plants in Finland and Germany will offer our customers reliable access to tailored high-nickel cathode active materials in proximity to their European manufacturing facilities,” said Dr. Peter Schuhmacher, President, Catalysts division at BASF.

BASF says that the investments in Finland and Germany will make it the first CAM supplier with local production capacities in the three major world markets – Asia, the US and Europe.

The company has also said that it intends to become the leading CAM supplier with a reliable, sustainable and European-based supply chain, which will comprise base metal supply, particularly nickel and cobalt, precursor production, and cathode material production.

The Schwarzheide site uses an energy-efficient gas and steam turbine power plant that operates on the principle of combined heat and power generation. It is currently being modernised to further increase its eco-efficiency. Until the battery materials plant is commissioned, the integration of renewable energies is also planned. The Harjavalta plant will utilise renewable energy resources, including hydro, wind and biomass-based power, providing the CAM materials produced there with a very low CO2 footprint.

The investments, says BASF, reinforce its support of the European Commission’s agenda towards a European battery production value chain and are part of the “Important Projects of Common European Interest” that was approved by the European Commission on December 9, 2019 under the European Union state aid rules.

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