SK to spend 1.3 trillion won to expand battery separator production
Firm to build 2 more factories in Poland plant
SK IE Technology, the battery material subsidiary of SK Innovation, will spend 1.3 trillion won to build two more copper foil factories at its plant in Slaskie, Poland.
The third and fourth factories will each add 430 million meter-square in annual production capacity.
The combined annual production capacity of the first and second factories there, when they are completed, will be 680 million meter-square. When all four factories go live, SK IE Technology will have an annual production capacity of 1.54 billion meter-square from Poland alone.
The construction for the two additional factories will start in the third quarter this year. They will start production near the end of 2023.
The first factory will go live in the third quarter this year; the second factory will begin production in the first quarter of 2023.
Separators are in high demand from the accelerated growth in the global electric vehicle market.
SK IE Technology is negotiating with customers for its first factory in Poland and its second factory in Changzhou, China. The second factory in Changzhou will go live within the first quarter.
SK Innovation said ti has technology to flexible control the thickness of the separators while maintaining their quality. It also has its own coating technology that protects the separators from heat and shock, it said.
SK IE Technology’s current annual production capacity stands at 860 million meter-square from its plants in Jeongpyeong, South Korea and Changzhou.
It is aiming to expand this to 1.36 billion meter-square this year. In 2024, it is aiming for 2.73 billion meter-square.