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Epsilon Advanced Materials, a leading manufacturer of advanced cell chemistry materials, has received an initial order for its anode precursor material from top two-anode makers in Japan and China.
The company, a subsidiary of Epsilon Carbon, is targeting sales volumes of 10,000 tonnes of anode precursor material in this fiscal, largely from overseas companies. (Anode materials are the negative electrode in lithium-ion batteries.)
Epsilon is also in advanced stages of getting its material qualified with upcoming cell-manufacturing facilities in the US and Europe.
Globally, synthetic graphite has 60 per cent market share in the anode material space. With this positive results, Epsilon has successfully qualified as a supplier in global lithium-ion battery supply chain, the firm said. The company plans to expand its synthetic graphite capacity to 35,000 tonnes by 2025.
Vikram Handa, Managing Director of Epsilon Carbon, said the company’s material is highly suited to support cell-makers in developing longer-range and quick-charging batteries.
Worldwide, many countries have announced plans to set up battery-making giga factories to support their mobility and energy storage needs of 2,600 GWh by 2030.
PLI scheme
Under Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, the government has come up with a production-linked inventive (PLI) scheme for 10 sectors, including advanced cell chemistry battery, to facilitate and promote indigenous supply-chain manufacturing capabilities. Through the scheme, at-least five giga factories (10 GWh each) are expected to come up immediately, with each factory attracting an investment of $1 billion. Under this scheme, the Centre has announced a total cash subsidy of ₹34,000 crore over the next 10 years.
Cell manufacturers looking forward to set up their facility under the PLI scheme are approaching Epsilon to secure their raw material needs. Epsilon being a 100 per cent indigenous producer of anode material, gives them a competitive advantage in complying with localisation norms to avail subsidies, the company claims. With a capacity of 35,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite, Epsilon would be able to support 35 GWh of cell manufacturing, it added.