PUNE, India, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility along with Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) conducted India’s first two days training workshop for li-ion cell fabrication and battery testing in Pune. The workshop was conducted on 11th and 12th March. This unique program was designed by IESA experts to help in skill development required to kickstart NITI Aayog’s National Mission for Advanced Battery Manufacturing. IESA and CMET experts assisted the industry participants in understanding and learning the fundamentals of advanced energy storage technology trends and Li-ion cell manufacturing process via a combination of classroom and hands on lab training. The program helped the participants to understand the requirements of raw material, equipment & detailed manufacturing processes essential to set up Giga factories and advanced R&D capabilities. Presentations and lectures were given by global experts on cell manufacturing, chemistries and performance characteristics and on next generation Li-ion technologies. The workshop focused on the actual process of electrode preparation and battery fabrication.
Speaking about the workshop, Dr. Bharat Kale, Director of Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology, said, “CMET is glad to be part of India Energy Storage Alliance who has a vision of making India a global hub for R&D, manufacturing and adoption of advanced energy storage and e-mobility technologies. Through Centre of Excellence of reachable batteries created by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), New Delhi, CMET has the Li-ion fabrication facility for Cathode, Anode and for Single Cell. Currently, Indian battery manufacturers are importing singe cells and making batteries of different capacities required in different verticals. We’re glad that at CMET we have materials for battery fabrication. It is our responsibility to support the industry so that India can pick up Li-ion manufacturing instead of depending on other countries. India’s first workshop by IESA along with CMET is a step towards it. We thank MeitY for creating such a facility and further [Li-ion fabrication] initiative in this regard at CMET Pune”.
Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) opinions, “Li-ion battery has become preferred technology in many battery storage applications due to its relatively high energy and power density as well as fast charge discharge capabilities. The battery pack manufacturers in India are currently assembling high capacity packs with the goal to target electric vehicles and stationary storage market. Assembling of Li-ion battery packs is a dynamic industry in India and is growing at a healthy pace. At IESA, we, however, believe that it is high time for Indian industry to take up R&D and advanced cell manufacturing so that we reduce our dependence on other countries. The recent pandemic related to COVID19 has highlighted the importance of domestic manufacturing considering the risk of global supply chain disruptions. Energy storage and EVs have importance for national energy security and we should learn from the recent events and accelerate our efforts for building domestic capabilities”.
Dr. Satyajit Phadke, Manager- R&D, Customized Energy Solutions (India), who lead the workshop highlighted that “So far such training was mainly available in developed countries such as Germany and US. This workshop is our effort to help bring down the costs of such training capabilities and help industry get better appreciation of the R&D facilities available within India. Our R&D initiative is industry- focused and we’re helping clients to solve the challenges that they are facing while deploying storage solutions for any application be it Stationary, EV or other”.
India has recently gained stature as one of the fastest growing markets for advanced energy storage technology supporting the exponential growth expected in its Electric Vehicle market over the next 5 years. With IESA estimating the India market to account for over 300GWh (2019-25) considering ESS & EV opportunities, around $5 billion investments are expected to be attracted supporting 50+GWh capacities for multiple li-ion battery GIGA factories.
About Customized Energy Solutions:
Established in 1998. Customized Energy Solutions is an energy advisory company that works closely with clients to navigate the wholesale and retail electricity markets across the United States and globally. Serving hundreds of clients, Customized Energy Solutions offers software solutions, back office operational support, 24 hour market operations and dispatch support, and advisory services focused on asset optimization and efficiency. CES is also a third-party asset manager of just under 10,000MWs of generation load across all the ISOs in the United States and Ontario, Canada. CES empowers clients to achieve their goals by helping them navigate the evolving energy markets, complex market rules, and new energy technologies entering the markets.
About India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA):
The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) was launched in 2012 to assess the market potential of Energy Storage Technologies in India, through an active dialogue and subsequent analysis among the various stakeholders to make the Indian industry and power sector aware of the tremendous need for Energy Storage in the very near future. IESA aims to make India a Global Hub for research and manufacturing of advanced energy storage technologies by 2020. During past years IESA membership has grown from 5 to 90+ and covers verticals from Energy Storage Manufacturers, Research institutes & universities, Renewable Energy companies and Power electronics companies.
IESA website: www.indiaesa.info
About Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (CMET)
Dedicated to the furtherance of competent research and development in the firmament of Electronic Materials, the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) functions as an autonomous scientific society under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India. Besides augmenting core competence, C-MET envisions attainment of self-sufficiency in the sphere of Electronic materials, components and devices to cater to India’s strategic and industrial applications, exploiting indigenous resources of raw materials.