AMTE Power plc (LON:AMTE), a developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells for specialist markets, is holding its Annual General Meeting today.
At the meeting, Chairman, David Morgan, will make the following statement and trading update:
“I am pleased to report the Company continues to make excellent progress in line with our planned Pathway to Production with our cells moving towards certification and high speed production rates whilst advancing our plans to build a Gigafactory.
Transition to Volume Production
The development of our Ultra Energy cell (automotive and energy storage) and our Ultra High Power cell (automotive and aerospace), are moving towards UN38.3 certification, expected in December 2021 for the Ultra Energy cell and by March 2022 for the Ultra High Power cell. Both cells have been transferred to the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (“UKBIC”) to scale up production to speeds representative of a Gigafactory, which will demonstrate that the cell designs are capable of mass manufacture. Once certified, and being manufactured at high production rates, these cells will be available for release to potential customers which in some cases will be for extensive trials through inclusion in product development programmes.
The Ultra Storage cell is being designed for manufacture in Australia through our joint venture company, Bardan Cells Ltd, with UN38.3 certification expected by June 2022, and will be available for release to potential customers thereafter.
The Ultra Prime cell, designed for use in deep wells, is commencing manufacture in our site in Thurso. The cells are for a tier 1 supplier to the oil and gas industry who will certify the cell ahead of volume supply commencing, under an existing off-take agreement, in 2023.
Client Engagement
We believe we are well placed to transition to volume production w ith over 79 active engagements in total, the majority of which are for supply of the Ultra Energy and Ultra High Power cells. Target customers include BMW, Arrival, a number of other leading brands in performance and commercial vehicles, energy storage operators and the UK’s largest integrator of electric power trains. The negotiation of commercial offtake agreements will take place throughout 2022 with target customers who have acquired our battery cells for testing or who have made one-off orders for batches of cells.
Expanding Production Capacity – Gigafactory
The planning of the UK Gigafactory is progressing well, with discussions continuing with the government funded Automotive Transformation Fund and a site is scheduled to be selected during 2022 from 3 sites currently under evaluation. Meanwhile, our Australian joint venture is nearing the completion of negotiations with equipment suppliers, and expects to select a site, order equipment and break ground by September 2022 .
We are pleased that progress is being achieved in line with our expectations, and we expect 2022 to be another significant year for the business.”
