ENPlus Forms Joint Venture with Aramco Subsidiary... Industry's Only Mass Production of Dry Electrode Technology

ENPLUS is set to establish a global secondary battery joint venture (JV) with GCC Lab, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco.

On the 22nd, ENPLUS announced that it visited Saudi Arabia and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with GCC Lab for "secondary battery and advanced technology battery research and development, and supply," based on the premise of establishing a joint venture.

According to the agreement, both companies aim to jointly invest and establish a dry electrode specialized research institute in Saudi Arabia within this year. ENPLUS also plans to actively support specialized secondary battery research personnel and related technologies.

The newly established research institute will conduct research and development (R&D) on next-generation secondary battery products such as dry electrodes and energy storage systems (ESS) locally in Saudi Arabia. After developing prototype products, the two companies plan to make additional investments to build large-scale mass production facilities on site.

GCC Lab is an institution jointly funded by Aramco, the Saudi Electricity Company, and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. It owns a large-scale energy research complex of approximately 170,000㎡ in the Dammam region and conducts international performance certification, testing, and inspection of electrical and power products.

ENPLUS is the only company in the industry that possesses mass production technology for both cathode (NCM·LFP) and anode dry electrodes. Dry electrodes, manufactured through a dry process, offer excellent effects in improving quality and reducing costs. They not only increase the energy density of secondary batteries but also significantly reduce the use of raw materials by omitting the "drying process" during manufacturing.

An ENPLUS official stated, "Dry electrode technology can be applied to all battery manufacturing, including electric vehicles and ESS, so we had extensive discussions with Saudi institutions that have a strong interest in the energy sector," adding, "Our technology was highly evaluated, and we decided to establish this joint venture to build a global cooperation system."

He continued, "However, it is expected to take at least more than half a year from the opening of the research institute to prototype development," adding, "Although it is not a short period, once it fully enters the mass production stage in the future, it is expected to serve as a powerful global base for ENPLUS."

In June last year, Aramco visited ENPLUS's booth at "The Battery Show Europe 2023," the largest battery exhibition in Europe held in Germany. Aramco showed great interest in various products developed by ENPLUS, with the most inquiries focused on dry electrodes.