Asahi Kasei: Partnership with Shanghai Energy for “battery materials”
-Background of partnering with a major Chinese company-
LIB Separator Asahi Kasei:
LIB Main material Asahi Kasei is the world’s second largest supplier of separators (insulating materials).
We have embarked on the development of the Chinese market for power storage system (ESS) applications.
Partnership with Shanghai Energy:
In September 2021, it formed a partnership with world leader Shanghai Energy.
Establish a joint venture through investment from each other’s wholly owned subsidiaries.
Established a joint venture:
In the first half of 2022, a factory will be established in Gaoan City, Jiangxi Province, China to start production.
The ostensible reason for Asahi Kasei’s alliance is to capture demand in China.
However, in reality, that is not the only aim.
There are two main reasons behind partnering with competitors.
Two major reasons:
-ESS is a promising field-
Against the backdrop of world decarbonization
Of renewable energies such as solar and wind
Demand for ESS, which stores electricity, is expected to increase.
Fuji Keizai Estimate:
2020 forecast
2020 separator shipments for ESS applications will be 190 million square meters worldwide (estimated)
2030 market forecast
It is expected to expand more than five times to 1.02 billion square meters.
-China’s ESS market is promising-
China has the tailwind of government-subsidized decarbonization support measures.
Asahi Kasei Separator Business
Akira Fukuda, General Manager of Global Strategy
The Chinese ESS market will rise rapidly from now on.
At this time, we launched a joint venture.
What is a separator:
There are two types, dry type and wet type.
Wet separator:
Wet type has the characteristics of high capacity and safety.
It is widely used for EVs and LIBs for consumer smartphones. It was
Wet separator:
The dry type has the characteristics of high output and long life.
It is also superior in cost compared to the wet type.
The dry type is said to be suitable for ESS.
Asahi Kasei:
Asahi Kasei is a dual wield with both technologies.
Shanghai Energy:
Shanghai Energy specializes in wet type. However, it is dry and does not have high technology.
Materials / Machines / Heavy Electric | Toyo Keizai Online
https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/507958?display=b
Establishment of joint venture in China for dry-process LIB separator
Asahi Kasei
September 22, 2021
Asahi Kasei Corp.
Asahi Kasei’s wholly owned subsidiary Polypore International, LP (Polypore)
and Shanghai Energy New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (SEMCORP)reached agreement in January 2021 to establish a joint venture in China for dry-process separator* for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).
With the receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals,
the joint venture has been established as described below.Based on a license from Polypore’s subsidiary Celgard, LLC,
for technology and intellectual property related to dry-process polypropylene (PP) separator,
the joint venture will manufacture and sell high-quality, high-performance dry-process separator in China for LIBs used in energy storage systems (ESS) and electric-drive vehicles (EDVs).
2021 | News
https://www.asahi-kasei.com/news/2021/e210922.html
The Beijing Intellectual Property Court’s judgment to maintain Asahi Kasei’s Chinese patent relating to separator for lithium ion secondary battery | 2021 | News | Asahi Kasei