Battery anode company Talga Resources Ltd (ASX:TLG) has received a commitment for grant funding under the UK Government’s Automotive Transformation Fund to complete a preliminary feasibility study into the commercialisation of Talga’s silicon anode product in the UK.
Managing Director, Mark Thompson, said Talga has been developing its silicon anode lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery product, Talnode-Si, both at its battery materials centre in Cambridge, UK, and under the now concluded Faraday SAFEVOLT programme.
Mr Thompson said this work demonstrated a promising commercial route to produce higher-energy density anodes for Li-ion batteries, with the potential to significantly increase the driving range of electric vehicles (EV).
Following further positive development and recent market testing, Talga has moved to fast-track Talnode-Si preliminary feasibility studies targeting stand-alone commercial production options in Europe.
As part of this process, Talga has applied for and been awarded ~A$520,000 in co-funding by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, under the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF).
The ATF supports the large-scale industrialisation of an electrified supply chain for a zero-emission UK automotive industry, powered by a collaboration between the Advanced Propulsion Centre, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade and Innovate UK.
Under the Study, technical and commercial work will be completed to define scale-up plans and support potential investment in establishing Talnode-Si production in the UK.
The Study will include a series of work packages to cover scale-up trials, demand estimates, engineering plans and identification of the overall cost and sustainability benefits to Talga and the UK EV supply chain as a whole. Talga will work with a range of external UK consultants towards completing the Study in the first half of 2021.
It is exciting to see our plans to fast-track Talnode-Si being supported by the Automotive Transformation Fund, at a time when the UK’s diverse and high quality automotive industry is undergoing rapid electrification,” Mr Thompson said.
“The UK has provided an attractive innovation ecosystem for Talga’s silicon anode product over the last few years, and with the increasing local demand for high-performance battery materials it is proving an attractive location for future commercialisation.”