Battery production in Asia: new projects
China's largest lithium-ion battery manufacturers Eve Energy and Sunwoda Mobility have announced plans to build factories in Thailand. This was made possible by the signing of memorandums of understanding with Thai energy company Energy Absolute.
The partnership with Energy Absolute gives Chinese manufacturers access to the fast-growing electric transportation and energy storage market in Southeast Asia. Demand for lithium-ion batteries in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other developing countries in the region is expected to surge in the coming years.
Eve Energy is now China's third largest battery manufacturer, behind giants such as CATL and BYD. The company produces up to 360 GWh of batteries per year and is actively expanding capacity. Eve Energy's order portfolio includes automobile companies such as BMW, Daimler, Hyundai Motors and Jaguar Land Rover.
In addition to supplying the Chinese domestic market, Eve Energy exports batteries to the US, Germany, and Malaysia. The company aims to take a leading position in promising new electric vehicle markets, including emerging markets in Asia.
Sunwoda Mobility ranks fifth among Chinese electric car battery manufacturers. Its current capacity exceeds 100 GWh per year. The company plans to increase production to 138 GWh by 2025. It is already known that Sunwoda will open a plant in Hungary to gain access to the fast-growing European electric car market.
Sunwoda's customers include major brands such as Dongfeng Maxus, Geely, Li Auto, Renault and Nissan. The company specializes in high-tech batteries for electric vehicles with fast charging capabilities. Through its partnership with Energy Absolute, Sunwoda expects to bring its advanced manufacturing technology to the Thai market.
Thailand is gearing up to be a regional hub for battery manufacturing
The Thai government is supporting plans by Chinese companies Eve Energy and Sunwoda Mobility to build large-scale lithium-ion battery plants in the country. This will help implement Thailand's 30-30 state program, which aims to increase the share of electric vehicles in the auto industry to 30% by 2030.
The agreements with Eve and Sunwoda envisage the creation of battery production capacities of up to 6 GWh per year in Thailand. This will make Thailand one of the leaders in Southeast Asia in the production of batteries for electric cars. It is planned to export part of the production to neighboring developing countries, where the demand for environmentally friendly transport is also growing.
Implementation of the projects together with Eve and Sunwoda will strengthen Thailand's position as a regional hub for battery production and sales. The country will receive a transfer of advanced Chinese technologies and will be able to establish the production of competitive products at an affordable price.
Experts predict that in the medium term Thailand has a good chance of becoming one of the world leaders in the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Strategic partnerships with leading Chinese companies in the industry will help achieve this goal as soon as possible.
Author of the article: Ekaterina Antonova
