New Energy News Roundup

SHANGHAI, Jul 19 (SMM) - A weekly update on the trending stories from the New Energy sector. 

1. EVE Energy plans to acquire a 28.125% stake in Jin Kunlun Lithium Industry and has signed an agreement of Investment. A joint venture company will be built in Qinghai with a phased investment of no more than 1.8 billion yuan to construct a project with an annual capacity of 30,000 mt of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. The first phase will have an annual capacity of 10,000 mt of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Jin Kunlun, whose main business is lithium metal, has a planned annual capacity of 3,000 mt and existing capacity of 1,000 mt. 

Jin Kunlun is a subsidiary of Dahua Chemicalm who owns the mining rights of Dachaidan Salt Lake with a mining area of approximately 90km². The lithium metal raw materials of Jin kunlun are mainly from Qinghai Qaidam Xinghua Lithium Industry. By relying on the resources of Dachaidan Salt Lake, Qinghai Qaidam Xinghua Lithium Industry has an annual capacity of 10,000 mts of lithium chloride. The move of EVE Energy demonstrates the boom and importance of raw materials. More mainstream downstream manufacturers extend their value chain towards upstream to achieve the goal of reducing costs and ensuring stable raw material supply in the future.

2. LG Energy Solutions and Samsung SDI have completed sample development of 4680 battery and that Samsung SDI is currently in the testing and verification phase.

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk released a number of battery innovations at the Tesla Battery Day last July, including the 4680 battery. As compared with the previous 21700 battery, the 4680 battery has a bigger size and its single energy density is about 5 times higher than that of the current cylindrical battery, which could increase the driving range of electric cars by 16% and reduce costs. As the leader of the current new energy vehicle market, Tesla models are popular on a global scale. Development of reliable 4680 battery at a faster pace will give LG Energy Solutions and Samsung SDI a favourable position in the cooperation with Tesla and further expand their market share.

3. REPT Energy launched a new solution for new energy heavy trucks- A 300KWh standard motive power battery system named "Scorpion”.

The most typical configuration of the "Scorpion” battery system is 300Kwh capacity and 600V voltage. The main application targets are heavy trucks and mining trucks that require long battery life and large  loading capacity. REPT Energy has established deep cooperation with passenger car companies such as SAIC-GM-Wuling, and the growth rate of its installed capacity in passenger cars has gradually stabilised. The launch of the new battery system will further improve its product matrix and open up new markets outside passenger car, special vehicle and energy storage fields.