Press Releases

YVERDON LES BAINS, Switzerland, 13th October 2017: Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN), one of the world’s leading energy storage solution companies, welcomes the European Union’s plans to make battery storage central to Europe’s energy infrastructure.

At the initiative of European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, in charge of Energy Union, a high-level meeting on Battery development and production in Europe took place on Wednesday 11th October in Brussels. This meeting regrouped the leading actors from the EU industry and member states to discuss the establishment of a full value chain of batteries in Europe, importantly including large-scale Lithium ion battery cell production. It was recognized that the large-scale manufacturing of Lithium ion cells with highest possible control of IP is crucial for EU economy and job creation for the future. There was a clear sense of urgency by all parties which included industrial leaders from automotive OEMs, Chemical companies, Energy companies and cell manufacturing companies.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, and Pierre Blanc, the company’s CTIO, were amongst the invited participants at the meeting in Brussels yesterday. With its industrial scale manufacturing site in Germany, and its development centers in Switzerland and Belgium, Leclanché is one of the largest manufacturers of Lithium ion cells in Europe, and has one of the strongest industrial basis.

A clear conclusion of the meeting was to form work strands in order to prepare a concrete roadmap by February 2018, that could set the path to a strong European based consortium, in many ways inspired by what was achieved 50 years ago in the aerospace sector.

Leclanché welcomes the initiative led by Vice-President Šefčovič, and is excited to be part of this process that should enable Europe to regain a strong position in the battery industry, which will be key in the ongoing transition to clean mobility and clean energy systems. Lithium ion cell production is central to the achievement of these goals and Leclanché is one of the very few players in Europe with industrial scale Lithium ion cell manufacturing experience.

EU funding will be made available, possibly through IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest), and the group will develop an EU-wide action roadmap over the coming months. Work on this is to start immediately, with Industrial participants to take the lead.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, said: “Battery technology is vital to the future security of Europe’s energy supply and the initiative of Vice-President Šefčovič will help create the right momentum and sends a clear signal as to its importance. Leclanché has been investing heavily over the past few years in building the required industrial foundations to be in a position to play an important role in this ambitious plan, and we are delighted to see such a strong and clear position taken by the European Commission. Leclanché, as one of the oldest battery companies in Europe, and with its strong industrial experience, aims to play a key role in this process, as it continues to build its presence in North America, Asia and further re-enforces its existing European activities.”

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