Battery materials research facility opened in WA

The Government of Western Australia has announced the opening of a new battery materials research and development laboratory facility in Bentley.

The WA Government has allocated $3 million through its Investment Attraction Fund to local company AustVolt, which is working towards developing and producing battery precursor cathode active material (pCAM). pCAM is a vital component for manufacturing lithium battery cells.

The Bentley laboratory facility will allow AustVolt to produce samples of its pCAM product, which can be used in battery manufacturing trials with the electric vehicle industry. It is an important step towards AustVolt’s full-scale manufacturing plant which, when built, will be able to produce 40,000 tonnes of pCAM per year — enough to develop hundreds of thousands of lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries.

The WA Government has granted AustVolt an 8.8-hectare land allocation in the Rockingham-Kwinana Strategic Industrial Area for its full-scale plant, with works expected to begin next year. At full capacity, the project is expected to create hundreds of local jobs.

The Investment Attraction Fund was established to encourage new investment in the state, create local jobs and diversify the WA economy, with more than $148 million allocated to 40 job-creating projects across the state to date.

“WA is positioning as a leader in the global supply chain for battery manufacturing, and with this latest investment in AustVolt, we are making sure WA is in the box seat as the world shifts to a low-carbon future,” said WA Premier Roger Cook.

For more information on the Investment Attraction Fund, click here.

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