ATF Feasibility Study 3 Winners
£9.4 million investment
The winners from the third Automotive Transformation Fund Feasibility Study Competition FS3 received a share of £9.4 million in public funding. Below, you can find out more about each of the studies.
Batteries – Anode
Deregallera Ltd: Cap-Size (Capital Investment in Anode Manufacturing Plant – a Sizing study) – Cardiff, Wales
The APC forecasts a significant deficit in locally manufactured anode material over the next decade and Deregallera stand poised to exploit this opportunity by moving to manufacture their sodium-ion anode material at scale in the UK. Large-scale investment in chemical plant comes with a high level of risk, that this project reduces by exploring ways to expand the top-down and bottom-up parameters on production quantities, identifying the optimum size of the chemical plant and extending the existing techno-economic study out to 10,000 tonnes-per-annum production.
Echion Technologies: SHARP (Sprinting towards High-value Anode Roadmap for large-scale UK Production) – Cambridge, England
Project SHARP (Sprinting towards High-value Anode Roadmap for large-scale UK Production) feasibility study will inform Echion’s high-volume anode manufacturing strategy and prepare a roadmap and business case to grow the UK battery manufacturing supply chain and secure the UK’s international competitiveness in the field of advanced battery materials production.
Nyobolt Ltd: AMP-UK – Cambridge, England
In this project, Nyobolt are defining the requirements for a large-scale manufacturing facility to produce their high-power battery technology for the automotive sector which enables ultra-fast charging without sacrificing lifetime or safety.
Talga Anode: UK-CSi, Feasibility study for establishing graphite-silicon refining plant in UK – Cambridge, England
This project will look to develop a business case based on feasibility of setting up a downstream graphite-silicon refining plant in the UK.
Batteries – Cathode
Geothermal Engineering: Feasibility study to create the business case for the purchase and installation of a commercial scale geothermal Direct Lithium Extraction unit in Cornwall – Redruth, England
The project will develop the business case for funding Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) units to extract lithium from deep geothermal water in Cornwall.
Livista Energy Limited: Assessment of the viability to build a lithium chemical conversion facility in the UK – London, England
Livista Energy is bringing localised, scalable lithium refining capability to Europe. The Livista lithium hub will produce battery grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide both critical to accelerating the energy storage transition in line with global demand.
Northern Lithium Ltd: Northern Lithium Feasibility Study at Ludwell Farm, Weardale, Co. Durham – County Durham, England
Northern Lithium (NLi) wants to prove the economic case to invest more than £120 million over the next 5-8 years to establish large-scale, sustainable lithium extraction from brines, processing and supply in the North East of England.
Weardale Lithium Ltd: GLEBE (Green Lithium Extraction from BrinE) – County Durham, England
The project will identify an investment-ready business case for the extraction of lithium from geothermal brines taken from boreholes located at Eastgate, Weardale, County Durham.
Batteries – Cell Assembly
AMTE Power: Megafactory Feasibility Study
The feasibility study will produce the technical and commercial business case for a high-capacity battery factory.
Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd (ITS) and University of Birmingham: Using electrical tomography to monitor real time LIB production process – Manchester, England
ITS’ patented tomography technology has helped improve the manufacturing efficiency in many industrial sectors. At the end of the project, ITS will have a proven tomography system design that can support battery manufacturing processes, aiming to enhance product quality and overall yields. This project will benefit UK gigafactories in developing an efficient production process.
Nanotech Energy: UK Gigafactory – UK
US-based battery manufacturer Nanotech Energy (NE) will investigate the viability of expanding its battery production facilities of its patented, high-performing, non-flammable Graphene batteries and other graphene-powered products in the UK.
Ilika Technologies Ltd: Economic study; Solid State Battery MWh manufacturing scale up – Romsey, England
Ilika and the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre are collaborating in this project to carry out an economic feasibility study to assess the costs of creating a dedicated 100 MWh solid-state battery production line within the UKBIC’s facilities.
Batteries – Recycling
Altilium Metals Ltd: Establishing feasibility of a novel industrial plant to recover critical metals from end-of-life EV batteries for re-entry into a circular battery supply chain – Tiptree, England
This feasibility study will accelerate and support the investment decision regarding Altilium Metals developing a new UK greenfield site capable of processing 10,000 MT of end-of-life lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries, gigafactory scrap and electronic waste, enabling 4750 MT of critical cathode metals to be recovered and supplied back into the EV battery industry by 2025. This site is the first of four planned to meet UK demand until 2050.
Talga Anode UK Ltd: RELOAD (Recycled lithium ion battery anode materials for high-value products) – Cambridge, England
This feasibility study will evaluate the reuse of spent graphite anode material to produce high surface area graphite and graphene-like materials and develop a business case for further investment in the concept.
LTS Transport Solutions: EV Battery Recycling Plant – Queenborough, England
LTS Transport Solutions is exploring the commercial viability of opening a brand-new electric battery recycling plant in the UK by 2024.
Fuel Cell – MEA and Stack Assembly
Bramble Energy Ltd: PCBFC for Range Extender – Crawley, England
The PCBFC ™ Range Extender feasibility study will develop a robust and detailed business case to manufacture the printed circuit board fuel cell (PCBFC™) for the automotive sector in the UK.
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd and Johnson Matthey Hydrogen Technologies Ltd: ARES (Automotive hydrogen fuel cell powertrains), the Route to Electrified Supply chains – Coventry, England
The ARES feasibility study project is investigating the potential for a UK automotive supply chain to scale-up and manufacture competitive high-value on-vehicle hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, including the use of semi-finished electrochemical parts produced in the UK.
Adelan Ltd, Ant Industries Ltd and the Manufacturing Technology Centre: Electric Vehicle Fuel Cell Range Extender – Manufacturing Scale-up Feasibility Study – Birmingham, England
The feasibility study examines the practicalities and cost-benefits of scaled manufacturing of a fuel cell in the UK.
Power Electronics
INEX Microtechnologies Ltd: S-GAMA (Scaling GaN Advanced Manufacturing for Automotive) – Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
This project will allow Inex to fully investigate and develop plans for the business that maximise the opportunity available in the automotive sector for a UK-based supplier of Compound Semiconductor devices particularly focused on gallium nitride.