First Plant in Silesia Province Completed
SK IE Technology (SKIET), the material business subsidiary of SK Innovation, announced on Oct. 6 (local time) that it held an opening ceremony for lithium-ion battery separator plant in Silesia Province, Poland, the company’s first European production base.
SKIET’s first plant in Poland has completed after about 21 months of construction. It is expected to kick off commercial operation in the fourth quarter of this year, after mechanical completion in June and test operation that started in August. It makes SKIET the first company ever to gain a production foothold for lithium-ion battery separators in Europe, the largest global EV market. The amount of production is enough to be mounted to 300,000 electric vehicles, and the products will be supplied to global battery companies such as SK On.
The opening ceremony for the first plant was held in Silesia Province, Poland, and joined high-ranking officials and related business figures including SK IE Technology CEO & president Rho Jae-sok, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Poland Sun Mira, Polish Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Technology Grzegorz Piechowiak and the Export-Import Bank of Korea CEO Bang Moon-kyu.
“I’m very delighted that the construction of SKIET’s Polish separator production plant has completed,” said the Polish Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Technology Grzegorz Piechowiak. “When the 4th plant is completed, SKIET’s Polish facility will be SK Group’s largest separator plant that can create about 1,000 new jobs, which is great news to the local community as well,” he added.
“For around 260 Korean companies, Poland is another nest as well as a bridgehead for market expansion to Europe,” said Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Poland Sun Mira. “To the day when all European and the global electric cars use battery separators developed by SKIET and produced in Poland, I hope both countries forge a stronger tie and Embassy will do our best to assist.”
Also, the Export-Import Bank of Korea CEO Bang Moon-kyu stated, “I expect there would be more exploration of overseas markets by Korean companies in the field of battery, which is one of the industries conducive to innovative growth. And I will do my utmost best to financially support Korean battery makers to take the lead in the development of the global market.”
“As SKIET produces lithium-ion battery separators, indispensable materials for EV batteries for the first time in Poland, EU, I expect it will both attain the growth of the company and the invigoration of the European EV market,” said SKIET CEO Rho Jae-sok. “We will provide our product not only to battery companies in Poland but also those in Europe such as Hungary and the United States as well. This will eventually contribute positive impact to the Polish economy.”
SKIET plans to invest a total of 2 trillion won in Silesia Province by 2024 to secure the production capacity of 1,540 mil. square meters for the lithium-ion battery separators, which is the largest scale of battery separators production in Europe. Along with the first plant that begun its commercial production, the second plant with a 340 mil. square meters production capacity is under construction and aims at being ready for a commercial operation by 2023. And the third and fourth plants with respective 430 mil. square meters capacity have broken ground last July. It is anticipated that the global production capacity of SKIET encompassing South Korea, China, and Europe will reach a total of 2,730 mil. square meters.
Against the backdrop of strong environmentally-friendly policies, Europe is the place where electric cars are booming. It is one of the three largest global EV markets along with China and the U.S. According to HIS market, market research agency, the European battery market will be expanded by five times from 82GWh this year to about 410GWh in 2026, the demand for separators will likely follow suit.
The separator is one of the four core materials for lithium-ion battery and is closely associated with battery stability and SKIET’s separator is already supplied to global top major battery producers. As rising demand for high-density batteries brought the importance of battery stability to the fore, pushing the demand for high-quality separators is even higher. SKIET’s battery separators stood out as it has not been implicated in a single case of fire.