LLLB is one of the circular economy demonstration pilots funded by the CIRCULÉIRE Innovation Fund
The Long-Life Lithium Battery (LLLB) re-use demonstration pilot is one of the ten projects funded by the CIRCULÉIRE Innovation Fund which seeks to support the testing and scaling of circular manufacturing systems, supply chains and circular business models. Within the LLLB pilot project, WEEE Ireland, KMK Metals Recycling and Wisetek investigated the feasibility of building capacity in Ireland to dismantle, test, reuse and/or repurpose batteries sourced from electrical vehicles for alternative battery storage solutions.
But what are the 10 key lessons we learnt from the LLLB pilot project?
The LLLB pilot enabled collaboration within the Irish ecosystem to develop a circular solution for end-of-life batteries.
The increased uptake of electric vehicles will create opportunities for the reuse of the battery modules.
Electric vehicle batteries (EV batteries) are hazardous and require specialised skills to safely remove damaged cells.
Damaged EV batteries require specialised containers to ship the complete enclosure for treatment.
EV batteries can contain up to 100+ battery cells.
The EV battery enclosure contains valuable metals such as aluminium, copper and steel.
The LLLB Project enabled KMK Metals Recycling to train their staff and build the physical dismantling process to enable the safe dismantling of EV batteries.
Battery Management Systems (BMS) control and monitor the battery cells but gaining access to the data contained in the BMS is restricted – which is a key barrier to overcome to scale-up re-use of EV batteries.
There is, however, significant potential for EV battery reuse in datacentres and renewable energy storage according to sources in Ireland’s ICT and Renewables sector.
The global renewable battery storage market is expected to be worth $14bn by 2028.
Long-Life Lithium Battery (LLLB) Demo Pilot
The project consisted of three stages: 1) developing & building capacity for the training and upskilling of staff; 2) developing a setup, installation, and testing facility for testing and dismantling EV batteries and 3) investigating the suitability for alternative second-life applications.
If you want to learn more about the project, watch the recording of the dissemination webinar that took place on April 28th, 2022 or read about it here.
About CIRCULÉIRE
CIRCULÉIRE is a public-private partnership co-created by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and three strategic partners: the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and EIT Climate-KIC. Together with industry partners, CIRCULÉIRE aims to assist manufacturers and their supply chains to switch from linear to circular business models.
Read more about CIRCULÉIRE here.
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