Expansion of Separator Business
SK Innovation, the energy solution arm of SK Group, will extensively grow the business of its lithium-ion battery separator or LiBS, a key part of electric vehicles. The company, which is currently building two additional production facilities for LiBS, has also decided to increase facility investments for the production of ceramic coated separator (CCS). In a bid to become the world’s top-ranked player by 2020, it will also consider establishing additional production lines according to global demands, including China.
SK Innovation announced on June 20 that it will add two new CCS production facilities (unit 3 & 4) at its production plant in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province. The ramp-up will kick off at the end of this month and be finalized by the first half of next year. Once it is completed, the company will have a total of four CCS facilities with a monthly output of 9 million square meters. The CCS to be produced at the unit 3 & 4 will be supplied for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
SK Innovation has applied its self-developed mixed inorganic substances to one or both sides of existing LiBS to produce CCS. Since CCS is higher in performance than conventional counterparts in thermal stability and durability, which are closely related with the safety of batteries, it has higher added values than regular wet separators. Also, its market demand is expected to continuously grow.
An official from SK Innovation said, “Global EV battery market research firms, like B3 and TSR, forecast that the demand of CCS in China, the world’s largest EV market, will double every year from the previous year, starting with this year.”
Previously, SK Innovation started the construction of two additional LiBS production facilities (unit 10 & 11) in May.
Once the company completes the construction of CCS production lines in 2017 and LiBS production lines at the first half of 2018, its annual separator yield will be bumped up to 330 million square meters that can power about 1 million all-electric vehicles.