The first CERENERGY® ABS60 battery prototype from Altech Batteries Ltd (ASX:ATC, OTC:ALTHF) is online — meeting and exceeding the company’s early expectations.
Early test findings confirm the battery’s design integrity and bolster confidence in its commercial viability.
Table salt technology
The battery’s table salt technology stands to eliminate exposure to critical metal price rises and supply chain concerns.
“Using common table salt technology and without the requirement for lithium, copper, cobalt, graphite and manganese, the CERENERGY® battery can operate in a wide range of temperatures and has a life of 15 years, around double that of lithium-ion batteries,” said CEO and MD Iggy Tan.
The prototype was installed at joint venture partner Fraunhofer IKTS’ test laboratory in Dresden, Germany, and integrated into a specially designed battery test station where it can be tested daily.
This setup enables continuous daily charging and discharging cycles to assess the battery's efficiency, stability, and overall performance under real-world conditions – generating critical data for offtake parties.
Robust performance
So far, under the test conditions, the battery is exhibiting exceptional efficiency and robust performance across all key metrics.
Importantly, it has maintained excellent thermal stability, a crucial factor in high-capacity energy storage systems.
Throughout the testing, it has operated within safe temperature limits, with no signs of overheating.
This reinforces the effectiveness of the battery's thermal management system, which plays a vital role in enhancing both the safety and longevity of the battery.
With the prototype performing reliably to published specifications, there is growing confidence at the company in the potential for large-scale commercial production.
The process
Separate battery cells underwent extensive testing, with 497 individual battery cells produced and tested at an operational temperature of 300°C.
Key results from over 500 cycles demonstrated stable performance, including a consistent discharge capacity of 80 Ah and an efficiency of up to 91%.
The battery’s discharge energy and capacity remained stable, without any indication of degradation, across the 500 cycles, and the average discharge voltage held steady throughout the tests.
The joint venture is commercialising its CERENERGY® battery, with plans to construct a 120 MWh production facility on Altech’s land in Saxony, Germany.
The facility will produce battery modules to provide grid storage solutions to the market.
“We are extremely pleased that the first CERENERGY® 60kWh battery prototype is now up and running and operating better than expected, reconfirming our confidence in the sodium-chloride solid-state battery technology developed by the world-leading Fraunhofer Institute in Germany,” Tan said.
“The prototype can now be demonstrated under real-world conditions, providing critical data for off-take parties.
“This will be invaluable as Altech pushes forward with sales and finance to construct the first 120MWh plant.
“With the first Letter of Intent for 30MWh of offtake with Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park recently announced, we envisage that having the CERENERGY® 60kWh battery prototype up and running and exceeding expectations, will further assist in the offtake process.”