To Meet Growing Demand
Doosan Solus announced on Oct. 30 that its board of directors has approved its plan to invest 270 billion won to increase the copper foil production capacity of its plant in the Tatabbánya Industrial Complex in Hungary. The decision came five months after the completion of a first-phase production line in May.
Doosan Solus plans to complete the second-stage expansion by 2022. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 25,000 tons when the expansion work is completed.
"We will secure an annual production capacity of up to 75,000 tons in 2025 to become the world's No. 1 supplier of copper foil and lead the European battery market," a Doosan Solus official said.
Global electric vehicle battery use is expected to increase from 303 GWh in 2020 to 1,270 GWh in 2025, market research company SNE Research said. It predicted that the European electric vehicle battery use will grow from 70 GWh in 2020 to 330 GWh in 2025 thanks to strong emission regulations by the European Union (EU).
As a member of the European Battery Union (EBA), Doosan Solus is able to cooperate closely with more than 400 battery-related companies, institutions, and research institutes in Europe. The European Battery Union was launched by the European Commission in 2017. It laid out a plan to build 25 mammoth-sized battery factories across Europe by 2025 to build a battery value chain. Tesla of the U.S., Volkswagen of Germany, and Northvolt of Sweden are participating in the plan as members.