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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
With the funding project SIB:DE ENTWICKLUNG, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) has launched the largest German consortium to date dedicated to sodium-ion battery technology. Twenty-five partners from academia and industry are collaborating to develop a sustainable, safe, and cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries. The focus is on the production of large-format, market-ready cells and the assessment of their recyclability. The goal is the rapid transfer of research results into industrial applications.
Battery cells are an indispensable component of the mobility transition adopted by the EU by 2030. They also play a crucial role in integrating large amounts of renewable electricity into the grid and are essential for uninterrupted power supply in the construction of 5G telecommunications stations. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are the most widely used energy storage devices. However, dependence on and scarcity of raw materials pose a significant challenge for the lithium-ion battery market. Consequently, there is an urgent need to find comparable alternatives for both mobile and stationary energy storage. Sodium is considered a particularly non-critical raw material; it is readily available, inexpensive, and classified as very safe. Sodium-ion batteries can thus play a key role in ensuring a stable and sustainable European energy supply.
Sodium-ion battery cell manufacturing for Germany and Europe
The sodium-ion battery (SIB) represents a forward-looking storage technology that offers an attractive complement or alternative to the currently market-leading lithium-ion batteries in terms of sustainability, security of supply, and cost structure. As a raw material, sodium is significantly more widely available, less expensive, and more evenly distributed globally than lithium, cobalt, or nickel, which can reduce current strong geopolitical dependencies and strengthen the reliability of future energy systems.
The project SIB:DE ENTWICKLUNG therefore aims to evaluate the suitability of sodium-ion technology for a sustainable energy and mobility transition and to achieve rapid industrial implementation in order to catch up with the Asian market. The intention is to establish a complete ecosystem for sodium-ion battery cell manufacturing in Germany and Europe. In particular, the focus is on rapidly enabling the participating industry partners to produce battery cells on a large scale, in a market-ready and competitive manner.
Strong alliance between research and industry
The project consortium for the SIB:DE ENTWICKLUNG initiative consists of eleven industry partners and fourteen academic partners, as well as an expanded group of associated partners from SIB:DE FORSCHUNG and an industry advisory board. Coordinated by EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, it is the largest German network dedicated to sodium-ion battery technology. SIB:DE ENTWICKLUNG is part of the SIB:DE initiative, which has already produced the SIB:DE FORSCHUNG project. The large industry advisory board demonstrates the interest in the development of sodium-ion cells across Europe. Only through this close integration of expertise from science and industry and the efficient cooperation between industry and research partners is rapid and sustainable scaling toward market penetration of sodium-ion battery cells possible.
The national experts in battery cell production and recycling are united in the project SIB:DE ENTWICKLUNG and are jointly and collectively pursuing the overarching goal of a technologically sovereign, competitive, and sustainable battery value chain for sodium-ion technology, as well as the establishment of a complete ecosystem for sodium-ion battery production.
Funding
Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)
Duration: March 2026–February 2029
Project Management Agency: Projektträger Jülich (PtJ)
Funding ID: 03XPB028
Funding amount: 14.5 million euros
Project partners
EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG (Coordinator)
acp-systems AG
Coperion GmbH
cylib GmbH
EAS Batteries GmbH
E-Lyte Innovations GmbH
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB
Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite, and Processing Technology IGCV
Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA
Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT
Fraunhofer Institute for Materials and Beam Technology IWS
Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU
FUCHS LUBRICANTS Germany GmbH
GROB-WERKE GmbH & Co. KG
Jungheinrich AG
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – wbk Institute for Production Engineering
RWTH Aachen – Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives – ISEA
Technical University of Braunschweig – Battery LabFactory Braunschweig – BLB
Technical University of Munich – Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management – iwb
Technical University of Munich – Chair of Electrical Energy Storage Technology – EES
UniverCell Holding GmbH
VARTA Storage GmbH
Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research – ZSW – Production Research – ECP
Dr. Laura Goodwin | Phone +49 661 6000 95614 | laura.goodwin@edag-ps.com| EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG I Reesbergstraße 1 I 36039 Fulda I Germany I www.edag-ps.com
Dr. Daniela Fenske | Phone +49 171 976 75 81 | daniela.fenske@ifam.fraunhofer.de | Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM | Wiener Str. 12 | 28359 Bremen | www.ifam.fraunhofer.de
Pilot coating system for battery electrodes – the bridge between research and mass production.
Copyright: © UniverCell Holding GmbH
3D visualization of a battery cell production line – complete process chain from electrode manufactu ...
Copyright: © EDAG Group
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Pilot coating system for battery electrodes – the bridge between research and mass production.
Copyright: © UniverCell Holding GmbH
3D visualization of a battery cell production line – complete process chain from electrode manufactu ...
Copyright: © EDAG Group
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