SK Innovation is planning to increase production capacity by 50 percent for LiBS (Lithium Battery Separator), which is a major component of secondary batteries.
Based on a yearly output, SK Innovation plans to increase production by 120 million m2. Its ultimate goal is to overtake Japan’s Asahi-Kasei by 2020 and become the top business in this market globally.
SK Innovation made an announcement on May 28 that it is going to construct two extra lines (numbers 10 and 11) to its LiBS production facility that is located in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province. It is planning to start construction next month and finish by the first half of 2018. When construction is finished, production capability will be increased to 330 million m2, which is equivalent to 1 million batteries for BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicle).
LiBS, which are used for batteries in electric vehicles and smartphones, are a highly-polymerized thin film with a thickness of just a millionth of a meter.
It is located between a battery’s cathode and anode and is a major component that affects the safety and performance of a battery by preventing unusual movements such as explosion and ignition.
SK Innovation’s goal is to narrow its gap with Asahi-Kasei. LiBS can be divided into dry LiBS and wet LiBS, depending on a manufacturing method. Although the manufacturing cost of wet LiBS is high, its quality and strength are excellent.
Currently 70 percent of the global LiBS markets is wet LiBS, and 26 percent of that was owned by SK Innovation as of last year, which made it the No. 2 business in the wet LiBS market. There is only about a 5 percent difference between SK Innovation and Asahi-Kasei. SK Innovation’s plan is to secure the top position in wet LiBS market by 2020 through continuous investments.
SK Innovation and Continental Corporation announced at the Detroit Motor Show their intention to team up for powering electric vehicles worldwide: The corporations signed a Heads of Agreement that describes the formation of a joint venture with which both companies want to develop, manufacture and market Lithium Ion battery systems for automotive applications. Due to the worldwide regulatory efforts in reducing carbon emissions and changing consumer needs, automobiles will become increasingly dependent on battery systems over the next 10 years.
SK Innovation and Continental will have 51 percent and 49 percent of ownership respectively. The initial JV operations will be based in Germany and Korea; and the management team will be comprised of executives from both companies. The business will serve automotive OEMs globally. The new joint venture is subject to the completion of JV agreements, which is expected to be achieved by mid-2012.
"We are pleased to work together in such a key technology for future mobility. With Continental’s automotive expertise and SK’s battery leadership, we have confidence that the JV will become the market leader in battery systems,” stated Dr. Jay Koo, CEO of SK Innovation.
The completion of the Seosan battery plant project marks the realization of a business triangle encompassing an R&D center in Daejeon, material procurement in Jungpyung, and end-product manufacturing in Seosan.
The Battery Seosan plant is worth 250 billion won, with a total production capacity to equip 10,000 electric vehicles (EV).
Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won expressed strong confidence in the EV battery business, saying that, “With the Seosan plant as its center, SK will establish mass production facilities around the world in order to achieve a leading position in the global market by 2020, so as to create many jobs, and reinvent SK as a green global leader and a key contributor to Korea’s path to the green growth economy.”
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A worker at SK Innovation’s plant in Jeungpyeong displays a lithium-ion battery separator (LiBS), one of core materials for electric car batteries, which the plant churns.
