Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LiPLANET (LI-ION CELL PILOT LINES NETWORK)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-03-31
The development of cost-effective, reliable, and high-performance battery cells will be essential to strategic sectors in Europe such as the automotive industry (electro-mobility) and the electric power sector. To be competitive on the market, the European Union (EU) must have independent capacity to develop, upscale and produce battery cells.
The overall aim of the LiPLANET project was to create a European innovation and production ecosystem by forming a network of Lithium battery cell pilot lines. This aim was split into 7 specific objectives that were achieved throughout the LiPLANET project:
1. Map 100% of EU pilot lines and create an inventory including their specific technology, production scale, testing and validation procedures and expertise.
2. Identify skill and equipment gaps to strengthen the position of EU pilot lines to face worldwide competition.
3. Define a standardised legal framework to regulate cooperation between the industry, the academia and the pilot lines, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and information security.
4. Promote the exchange of results and work on energy and resource efficient production processes within a network of pilot lines that includes more than 80% of EU pilot lines.
5. Conduct a round‐robin test to compare qualification methods of EU‐wide battery cell pilot lines, to analyse the sensitivity of cell properties to production effects, and to align the cell production processes of European pilot lines.
6. Develop a roadmap for the network to reach industrial scale production.
7. Promote the network and disseminate the project’s results in front of relevant stakeholders such as pilot line operators and policy makers, as well as increase knowledge exchange and collaborations between stakeholders.
The LiPLANET network was successfully established as a non-profit association on May 7, 2021. The network integrates industrial stakeholders and establishes unique selling propositions towards EU industry in support of its market access within the cell manufacturing ecosystem.
The overall aim of the LiPLANET project was to create a European innovation and production ecosystem by forming a network of Lithium battery cell pilot lines. This aim was split into 7 specific objectives that were achieved throughout the LiPLANET project:
1. Map 100% of EU pilot lines and create an inventory including their specific technology, production scale, testing and validation procedures and expertise.
2. Identify skill and equipment gaps to strengthen the position of EU pilot lines to face worldwide competition.
3. Define a standardised legal framework to regulate cooperation between the industry, the academia and the pilot lines, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and information security.
4. Promote the exchange of results and work on energy and resource efficient production processes within a network of pilot lines that includes more than 80% of EU pilot lines.
5. Conduct a round‐robin test to compare qualification methods of EU‐wide battery cell pilot lines, to analyse the sensitivity of cell properties to production effects, and to align the cell production processes of European pilot lines.
6. Develop a roadmap for the network to reach industrial scale production.
7. Promote the network and disseminate the project’s results in front of relevant stakeholders such as pilot line operators and policy makers, as well as increase knowledge exchange and collaborations between stakeholders.
The LiPLANET network was successfully established as a non-profit association on May 7, 2021. The network integrates industrial stakeholders and establishes unique selling propositions towards EU industry in support of its market access within the cell manufacturing ecosystem.
The key achievements of the LiPLANET project include agreed requirements for pilot lines to join the network, defined legal framework, round-robin protocol, and a strategic roadmap towards the vision for the Network in 2030.
The LiPLANET project consortium agreed on a three-level definition of a pilot line, which makes up the minimal requirement to join the LiPLANET network. This definition includes the covered range of battery production steps and the level of automatization, and was the basis for a questionnaire distributed to the known potential pilot lines. Within the project, 23 European pilot lines fulfilled the criteria and were therefore identified and mapped as such. The pilot lines that completed the questionnaire, but did not meet all requirements at this time (some of which have plans to extend their facilities in the upcoming years), will be kept in contact and, if needed, supported in their efforts.
The legal framework has been defined and a set of six legal documents have been created for the context of the LiPLANET network. The first document defines the terms and conditions, which describes the purpose, the structure with the different bodies and the member’s rights and obligations. The second document is the association statute, which covers the same aspects as the terms and conditions, only with less administrative details. The chosen legal framework for the network is a German non-profit association. The third document is the mapping questionnaire, as described above. This document is the go-to document to check whether a pilot line is eligible to join the network. The fourth document is a declaration of adherence, which must be signed to show that a member adheres to the terms and conditions. The remaining two documents are templates that members can use if they want to exchange information (using the non-disclosure agreement) or material (using the material transfer agreement).
In order to test the capabilities of the five pilot lines in the project consortium to produce high quality cells, a round robin test was conducted. For this, the consortium agreed on a state-of-the-art cell chemistry. Each of the pilot lines within the network produced a set of cells of this cell chemistry, conducted cell tests using pre-defined testing parameters and tolerances. The tests were successfully conducted and validated across the 5 pilot lines. The round-robin protocol will be used to ensure a minimal quality is met across pilot lines within the Network.
The project consortium has also developed a strategic roadmap for the LiPLANET network. This roadmap describes what is needed for the pilot lines to reinforce the position of the European Union (EU) in the Lithium battery cell manufacturing market until 2030 and beyond. Workshops were held to define the vision for the network in 2030, clarify and define the status quo, identify the knowledge and skill gaps, as well as the obstacles and gaps, and finally define the necessary actions and corresponding milestones to achieve the vision. The roadmap is published and available for download on the LiPLANET website (www.liplanet.eu).
The project used social media platforms (LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/liplanet Twitter – @LiPlanetH2020, and YouTube) to bring information to the general public and interested stakeholders. These social media platforms will continue to be used for the LiPLANET network. A newsletter is also published on the website (liplanet.eu) and directly emailed to subscribers. Furthermore, policy briefs were developed within the project and will be disseminated to key stakeholders in the battery industry. Training videos and workshops were also developed and conducted throughout the project and published on YouTube.
The LiPLANET project consortium agreed on a three-level definition of a pilot line, which makes up the minimal requirement to join the LiPLANET network. This definition includes the covered range of battery production steps and the level of automatization, and was the basis for a questionnaire distributed to the known potential pilot lines. Within the project, 23 European pilot lines fulfilled the criteria and were therefore identified and mapped as such. The pilot lines that completed the questionnaire, but did not meet all requirements at this time (some of which have plans to extend their facilities in the upcoming years), will be kept in contact and, if needed, supported in their efforts.
The legal framework has been defined and a set of six legal documents have been created for the context of the LiPLANET network. The first document defines the terms and conditions, which describes the purpose, the structure with the different bodies and the member’s rights and obligations. The second document is the association statute, which covers the same aspects as the terms and conditions, only with less administrative details. The chosen legal framework for the network is a German non-profit association. The third document is the mapping questionnaire, as described above. This document is the go-to document to check whether a pilot line is eligible to join the network. The fourth document is a declaration of adherence, which must be signed to show that a member adheres to the terms and conditions. The remaining two documents are templates that members can use if they want to exchange information (using the non-disclosure agreement) or material (using the material transfer agreement).
In order to test the capabilities of the five pilot lines in the project consortium to produce high quality cells, a round robin test was conducted. For this, the consortium agreed on a state-of-the-art cell chemistry. Each of the pilot lines within the network produced a set of cells of this cell chemistry, conducted cell tests using pre-defined testing parameters and tolerances. The tests were successfully conducted and validated across the 5 pilot lines. The round-robin protocol will be used to ensure a minimal quality is met across pilot lines within the Network.
The project consortium has also developed a strategic roadmap for the LiPLANET network. This roadmap describes what is needed for the pilot lines to reinforce the position of the European Union (EU) in the Lithium battery cell manufacturing market until 2030 and beyond. Workshops were held to define the vision for the network in 2030, clarify and define the status quo, identify the knowledge and skill gaps, as well as the obstacles and gaps, and finally define the necessary actions and corresponding milestones to achieve the vision. The roadmap is published and available for download on the LiPLANET website (www.liplanet.eu).
The project used social media platforms (LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/liplanet Twitter – @LiPlanetH2020, and YouTube) to bring information to the general public and interested stakeholders. These social media platforms will continue to be used for the LiPLANET network. A newsletter is also published on the website (liplanet.eu) and directly emailed to subscribers. Furthermore, policy briefs were developed within the project and will be disseminated to key stakeholders in the battery industry. Training videos and workshops were also developed and conducted throughout the project and published on YouTube.
Within the landscape of European battery production, there is a range of initiatives, projects and organizations that bring together stakeholders along the battery value chain. Battery production pilot lines play an important role to scale up innovations in the manufacturing process and bridge the gap between early technology development and mass production. However, until now pilot lines have been only loosely connected through common projects. A network that is dedicated to connect the different pilot lines around Europe has been missing on a European Level.
The project has successfully established a network of Lithium battery pilot lines and facilitated the cooperation between stakeholders to support the industrial scale‐up and the market access of EU cell production. The outcomes of the project further include a data exchange platform for knowledge exchange, a standardised legal framework for cooperation among stakeholders and third parties, the creation of a standardized reference test for qualification of pilot lines, as well as a roadmap detailing the current strengths and weaknesses of the EU Lithium battery cell manufacturing ecosystem and the path to be followed to bring battery cell production from small batch testing towards industrial scale in Europe. The network will represent a unique selling proposition for European cell production and support market access, facing strong international competition. Additional potential impacts of the network include increasing the basis of trained experts in Europe, improving collaboration amongst pilot lines, and accelerating innovation within the field.
The project has successfully established a network of Lithium battery pilot lines and facilitated the cooperation between stakeholders to support the industrial scale‐up and the market access of EU cell production. The outcomes of the project further include a data exchange platform for knowledge exchange, a standardised legal framework for cooperation among stakeholders and third parties, the creation of a standardized reference test for qualification of pilot lines, as well as a roadmap detailing the current strengths and weaknesses of the EU Lithium battery cell manufacturing ecosystem and the path to be followed to bring battery cell production from small batch testing towards industrial scale in Europe. The network will represent a unique selling proposition for European cell production and support market access, facing strong international competition. Additional potential impacts of the network include increasing the basis of trained experts in Europe, improving collaboration amongst pilot lines, and accelerating innovation within the field.