Germany: Akasol to hit 800 MWh by early 2020

The German battery system supplier Akasol plans to increase its production capacity at its site in Langen, Germany before schedule. The latest quarterly report states that Akasol will have a production capacity of 800 MWh from the first quarter of 2020.

While a doubling from 300 to 600 MWh was initially announced by 2020, the latest quarterly report states that Akasol in Langen will have a production capacity of 800 MWh from the first quarter of 2020.

The company reports significantly higher revenues in the first three months of this financial year amounting to 9.1 million euros. This means a gain of around 4.5 million from the same period last year. Earnings before interest and taxes halved in the first quarter to 0.2 million euros.

All production facility supplies have been ordered, and the installation of the total capacity planned for this site now looks like it will already be completed in 2019 – nine months earlier than initially expected.

Moreover, Akasol is also negotiating new or additional supply contracts for battery systems with various commercial vehicle manufacturers, according to CFO Carsten Bovenschen. While he did not go into details, he mentioned that discussions with Scandinavian companies (that would be Volvo primarily) were progressing fast. Also in Asia talks are underway, mostly to supply battery systems for fuel cell electric vehicles. Akasol is also working to deliver fast-charging stations and says it is running a test round with a large German manufacturer. One of the main clients for batteries in Germany is Daimler and the eCitaro bus reportedly. However, the firm recently bought into Proterra and analysts suspect that this may harm the business with Akasol in the US as Daimler could buy batteries directly. While the CFO considered this a normal development, the site search for the planned Akasol plant in the USA will also be completed “in the near future”.

akasol.com, welt.de (new deals, in German)

Additional reporting by Nora Manthey.