Indian Oil Corporation Ltd will soon be partnering with a foreign start-up to set up a 1 Giga Watt (GW) battery manufacturing plant in the country. For this, the state-run oil and gas company will be using non-lithium raw materials which are available locally in the country, as confirmed by Chairman Sanjiv Singh.?
India is on the cusp of a major transportation revolution with the ongoing transition to electric vehicles. Amidst this, cracking a new battery technology, one that is cheaper than the existing lithium-ion technology and is more readily available, will prove to be a major boost to the EV adoption.?
The equation is simple. Batteries are the costliest part of an EV. If it is possible to cut down their price, the overall price of the vehicle will be reduced, thus resulting in increased sales. Indian Oil is aiming at exactly that. Indian Oil director for R&D - Dr SS V Ram Kumar in a recent report, hinted at what they are looking for - ¡°chemistries which are India-centric, whose raw material is easily available in this country, whose recycling technology is extremely mature, and whose recycling industry is well established in this country.¡±
Indigenous production of batteries will result in lowering down the cost substantially. But since India does not have any lithium, the battery technology has to be one that uses a completely different raw material.?
(Representative Image: BCCL)
As per the Indian Oil executives, the plan is to use transition group of elements like iron, nickel, cobalt and others. ¡°Natural resources of that particular element in this country is abundantly available,¡± Ram Kumar says.?
Once the battery technology is decided upon, Indian Oil Corporation will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to set up the plant. ¡°We may rope in another interested player, it could be anybody who brings in some expertise and synergies to this venture,¡± Ram Kumar said.
The plan is to build the GW scale facility in stages, starting with 25 MW or 50 MW and then expand it further as the demand for EV batteries grows in the country. IOC has already signed an agreement with the overseas entity and is now waiting for clearances from the government.?
In addition, IOC will also decide upon the location of the plant based upon factors like the price of the land and easy availability of clearances.?
Indian Oil has expressed an interest in venturing into the energy storage business soon and the state-run firm is poised to be at the forefront of the industry once the electric vehicles are mainstream. It is interesting to note how the largest commercial oil company in the country is moving towards batteries now, indicating a solid notion of electric vehicles to dominate the industry soon. Being equipped in time is going to help the IOC in the years to come, while aiding India¡¯s transformation to a cleaner commute.