In an effort at capitalizing on the growing popularity of electric vehicles in the Middle Kingdom, a pair of Chinese firms have teamed up with an Israeli company to establish a joint venture dedicated to the production of aluminium batteries.
On Tuesday, Yunnan Aluminium filed a notice with the Shenzhen stock exchange announcing that it has teamed up with Israel’s Phinergy and Shanghai Zuoyong New Energy Technology Co. to form the Yunnan Phinergy Chuang Neng Metal Air Battery Co Ltd. The joint venture, which will be based in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, will be funded with a registered capital of CNY813.82 million (US$128.97 million).
The joint venture will be split roughly in thirds, with Yunnan Aluminium and Phinergy each owning 32 percent, while Shanghai Zuoyang will hold the remaining 36 percent.
According to the statement, Yunnan Phinergy “will introduce the world’s leading aluminum-air battery technology, relying on [Yunnan Aluminium‘s] green and clean water and aluminum resources.”
Phinergy, which is based in Lod, Israel, is a start-up company formed a decade ago to produce hybrid lithium-ion and aluminium-air/zinc-air battery systems. The firm holds the patent for a “nano-porous silver-based catalyst” that allows oxygen into the battery while excluding carbon dioxide, which the firm says radically lengthens the battery’s life while reducing its weight.
Yunnan Aluminium is no stranger to the electric vehicle sector, either. Last fall the company said it was planning to enter into another joint venture to produce electric vehicles, saying that the target output at the initial stages is 2,500 units.