CIDETEC's strategy for the development of advanced electric battery technologies has received solid support from the European Commission with the funding of various battery research and development programs for the electric vehicle.
These projects aim to reinforce three of the Centre's main lines of action in the field of energy storage; battery manufacturing, systems engineering and modelling.
The first of the projects has to do with the development and setting up of new manufacturing technologies for the next generation of solid electrolyte lithium batteries. The consortium established to carry it out consists of a total of 13 international entities, including eight leading companies in the manufacturing of materials, machinery and engineering. In this case, CIDETEC will contribute its experience in the semi-industrial manufacture of electrodes, as well as in the design and manufacture of final prototypes.
The second project aims to develop a new concept of modular and flexible battery, capable of being adapted to different configurations of the electric vehicle. Acting as the leader, CIDETEC will coordinate the work of a total of 14 European partners of which 9 are companies in the field of batteries, product engineering and vehicle integration. It should be noted that the project has received the highest possible score in the evaluation carried out by independent experts, according to the usual procedure of the European Commission.
The third project consists of a consortium of 11 companies and 5 research entities and aims to develop a virtual product development concept for the electric vehicle, that will avoid the fragmentation that currently exists in the modelling of its different components. Among other areas, CIDETEC will be working by contributing its vision and experience in the virtual design of batteries.
To these three new projects that will be launched next autumn and will be developed over the next four years, another unique project will be launched this year with the European Space Agency (ESA), where a new family of advanced materials for lithium-ion batteries specifically designed for the aerospace sector will be developed and validated, putting into practice the synergies among different fields of application as diverse as the electric vehicle and space satellites, in as far as the Energy storage technologies are concerned.
In all, these new projects represent an additional financial boost of one and a half million euros, which help make CIDETEC's strategic objectives more accessible, and consolidate the company as a worldwide global reference point in the development and transfer of Advanced battery technology. It is also a strategy which is consistent with the objective of the Gipuzkoa institutions to turn the territory into an international development technology hub that all experts consider key for the future. In this sense, it should be highlighted that earlier this year, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (La Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa) and CIDETEC signed an agreement to promote research and development in electrical storage.
Beyond this institutional spur, large corporations also recognise CIDETEC as the reference agent in research for energy storage, a position that was last year backed by the REPSOL corporation through a contractual alliance agreement with CIDETEC with the aim of jointly addressing an ambitious strategy for the development of new battery technologies to meet the current challenges of batteries. Another landmark in the Centre’s activity in recent years is the development of battery packs for IRIZAR S.Coop. These battery packs will power the buses that the company will manufacture in its new production plant.
These achievements come as a result of the efforts made by CIDETEC in its energy storage department, materialized through an investment effort that has reached the figure of 6 million € over the last 5 years. Among the investments made in facilities and equipment is the start-up of a semi-industrial pilot battery manufacturing plant, as well as the reinforcement of the battery testing and testing laboratory to become one of the most advanced in Europe. This investment effort has also been employed for contracting 50 new researchers to the staff over the last two years.