Port Colborne Lithium-ion Battery Separator Plant | ?m | 1s | Asahi Kasei

ericmacm said:
With the announcement of this plant, I am interested to see if the province will now be looking to potentially extend HWY 406 south along the HWY 140 ROW.
Click to expand...
I doubt it. MTO just built a roundabout on 140 just north of this site and it wasn't designed as a 4-lane roundabout, which tells me that MTO has no significant plans to upgrade 140 any time soon. Which is honestly kind of surprising as AADT on the highway is in the 10-14,000 range.. which while not crazy high, is high enough that MTO would usually be thinking about a long-term upgrade.

Also, extending the 406 southwards would be crazy expensive to get it across the Welland Canal, unless they could find a way to reuse the existing tunnel somehow. Doing that would likely involve some extremely substandard curves on the highway though which is tough.
 
ericmacm said:
With the announcement of this plant, I am interested to see if the province will now be looking to potentially extend HWY 406 south along the HWY 140 ROW.
Click to expand...
I guess they will in due time. Not only is this parcel of land strategically locatied next to the canal to the west for shipping purposes. I think the rail line to the north of the property that runs underneath the canal for freight purposes. Could also potentially run the future Mid Peninsula Corridor highway beside the railway for vehicular services . That will eventually connect the city of Hamilton to the town of Fort Erie via Buffalo New York some day! This is why I think the choice to build here make more sense than you think lol!
 

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca news.ontario.ca

Asahi Kasei Breaks Ground on Electric Vehicle Battery Separator Plant in Port Colborne​

PORT COLBORNE — The Ontario government is welcoming the start of construction on Asahi Kasei’s $1.7 billion manufacturing facility in Port Colborne to produce lithium-ion battery separators, a key component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The new plant, the first of its kind in Canada, is a significant part of Ontario’s growing end-to-end EV and battery supply chain, accelerating the production of Ontario-made EVs and creating better jobs with bigger paycheques in the Niagara Region.
"The start of construction on Asahi Kasei’s battery separator plant is a major step forward in building Ontario’s electric vehicle supply chain, connecting minerals in the north with electric vehicle battery makers and automakers across the province,” said Premier Doug Ford. “This facility will help lay the groundwork to produce electric vehicles from start to finish by Ontario workers with Ontario-made components, bringing better jobs and bigger paycheques to communities across the province.”
The start of construction closely follows the recent announcement of a joint venture between Asahi Kasei and Honda Canada Inc. that will be established to oversee construction and production activities at the Port Colborne plant.
Click to expand...
 
1766116304111.png
 
It will be interesting in the near future when sodium ion batteries become the go to batteries for ev's. CATL and EVE are already producing them for storage facilities, and car production isn't far behind. They are rated for 3.5-5.0 million miles, and will outlast the vehicles themselves.
They are still at 85% capacity at this point, and are 40% cheaper to produce right now, an don't need all the precious minerals everyone is fighting over. The ring of fire may not even be needed as the batteries only need iron oxide and manganese oxide.
Lithium ion batteries will become obsolete. I'm sure these plants can be retooled, but there sure is a lot of money being spent by governments on these plants in St Thomas and Windsor. I believe Ontario is helping with a graphite plant in St Thomas also.
This technology is changing so fast, spending billions on these plants could be a big mistake unless they are retooled for the newer batteries.
 
bmiller said:
It will be interesting in the near future when sodium ion batteries become the go to batteries for ev's. CATL and EVE are already producing them for storage facilities, and car production isn't far behind. They are rated for 3.5-5.0 million miles, and will outlast the vehicles themselves.
They are still at 85% capacity at this point, and are 40% cheaper to produce right now, an don't need all the precious minerals everyone is fighting over. The ring of fire may not even be needed as the batteries only need iron oxide and manganese oxide.
Lithium ion batteries will become obsolete. I'm sure these plants can be retooled, but there sure is a lot of money being spent by governments on these plants in St Thomas and Windsor. I believe Ontario is helping with a graphite plant in St Thomas also.
This technology is changing so fast, spending billions on these plants could be a big mistake unless they are retooled for the newer batteries.
Click to expand...
isn't the issue (or an issue) with sodium that they are still significantly heavier in kg/storage capacity than lithium? Given electric vehicle weight is already an issue with lithium, I would think fixed storage would be the more likely usage for at least a few years.
 
dowlingm said:
isn't the issue (or an issue) with sodium that they are still significantly heavier in kg/storage capacity than lithium? Given electric vehicle weight is already an issue with lithium, I would think fixed storage would be the more likely usage for at least a few years.
Click to expand...
You are correct, though sodium will work its way into the low end of the market for short range vehicles. Really, sodium will be a small fraction of lithium battery production for quite some time. It takes time to scale production.

There will be a market for pretty much all the new battery production coming online. The demand is going to be immense for a range of applications, and for many applications the higher volumetric and gravimetric energy density of LFP or NMC chemistries will be worth the higher cost.
 
A lot of info in this video. CATL now says they have solved a lot of the weight issue. Their new Naxtra batteries have a density of 175 Wh/Kg which is close or equal to lithium.The temp. range is a big deal in the northern latitude. -40C - +70C range takes care of winter and summer temp. swings. If half this comes true, it will still be a game changer for battery storage.
 
...can't help think of the massive footprints these plants require. I get it's for the reduction of our reliance on stinky gas guzzlers...it just seems like the stink is being concentrated somewhere else rather than resolved.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top