Romania-based Prime Batteries Technology, a breakthrough developer, manufacturer and distributor of lithium-ion batteries and bespoke storage systems, has signed an investment agreement with EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy supported by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
The investment formalises EIT InnoEnergy as a shareholder in Prime Batteries Technology that will support the company in achieving its ambition to scale up annual production output to 8 gigawatt-hours (GWh), attracting and accessing the talent and paving the way for it to become one of the success stories of the European battery value chain.
“We are delivering advanced storage solutions to various international customers and we’ve already secured a majority of the orders for 2023 and 2024,” said Vicentiu Ciobanu, CEO at Prime Batteries Technology. “The quality and performance of our products are confirmed by the fact that over 80 per cent of our sales goes to returning customers. Due to growing demand, we need to increase our production capacity. Our ambition is to scale up our yearly production output to 2 GWh by 2024 and to 8 GWh by 2026. We will do this by further developing the smart factory that at the same time enables us to make batteries at a significantly lower cost.”
Prime Batteries Technology has long-standing experience in producing battery and tailor-made storage solutions across a range of industries including automotive, marine, industrial and material handling and energy storage. The company has seen successful partnerships with large DSOs, EPCs and renewable energy producers also from Central and Eastern Europe, namely Poland, Croatia, Slovenia and Turkey.
“Active investment in the electrification of Europe is key to the continent’s energy security, and to fast track the transition towards sustainability,” stated Diego Pavia, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy. “We are committed to finding the best technologies and to supporting the most promising companies to help them grow and make a real impact on an ever larger scale.”
With the value of the global battery market due to double in the next four years as demand grows rapidly for lithium-ion batteries – and in Europe, this demand outstrips production – dynamic growth and strengthening of the continent’s supply chain is vital. It is on its way to becoming the second-largest battery producer after China by 2025 and this investment is an example of expertise and resource collaboration to enable rapid capacity scaling of key players in the market.