Raasi Group (Raasi Solar Energy Pvt Ltd) signed an agreement with CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu to co-develop Lithium-ion cells under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. At present, India has no domestic manufacturing of Lithium-ion cells and millions of Lithium-ion cells are consumed every month, making it the highest annual negative net exports of Lithium-ion batteries in 2017 for nearly $150 million.
“We want to bring down the cost of cell manufacturing below to compete with Lead Acid Battery. We also have plans to make Lithium-ion battery for solar rooftop with a life span of 25 years to make it affordable enough to drive the Photo Voltaic segment,” Raasi Group Chairman-cum-Managing Director C Narsimhan said.
CSIR-CECRI has developed an indigenous technology of Lithium-ion cells in partnership with CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) New Delhi, CSIR- Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CSIR-CGCRI) Kolkata and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) Hyderabad. CSIR-CECRI has set up a demo plaint in Chennai to manufacture Lithium-ion cells. Under this partnership, Raasi Group will take it to the next level with an integrated approach to scale up the manufacturing and test it as per international standards in ESS and EVs. It is a joint co-development activity where CSIR-CECRI will contribute for technology development while Raasi will provide industry inputs and scale up mass production of Lithium-ion cells.
“I dedicated my whole career working towards the indigenous Lithium-ion cells technology and was hoping that this day will finally come for India,” CSIR-CECRI’s head of Lithium-ion program Dr. S Gopukumar said.
Speaking after the signing of MoUs, Union Science and technology minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said: “Today’s development is a validation of the capabilities of CSIR and its laboratories to meet technology in critical areas to support our industry, besides other sectors.”
“It will give tremendous boost to two flagship programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – increasing the share of Clean Energy in the energy basket by generating 175 Giga Watts by 2022, of which 100 Giga Watts will be Solar and the second, National Electric Mobility Mission, to switch completely to electric vehicles by 2030,” said Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
The project, the minister said, is also in tune with PM Modi’s vision of Make in India” to turn the country into ” a manufacturing hub and to cut down outflow of foreign exchange.”
Product Range: CSIR- CECRI’s cell fabrication plant has the capability to produce the most popular 18650 cylindrical cells as well as pouch cells. Based on current strength of fabrication plant, in the first phase Raasi Group will scale up the manufacturing of 18650 cylindrical cells of 3.7 V / 2.5 Ah, Pouch type of 3.7 V / 3 Ah and 5 Ah. It will be followed by manufacturing of Prismatic cells.
Raasi Group’s vision is to make Lithium-ion cells more affordable for easy adoption of Lithium-ion based Electric Vehicles (EV) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS). Apart from affordability, other factors such as reliability, durability, safety and fast charging capabilities are to be focussed on.
Electric vehicle applications are vast, it can replace any vehicle that runs on petrol or diesel, be it a truck or a bulldozer. Fossil fuels powered vehicles contribute to the global warming and Electric Vehicles can put a stop to that.
Energy Storage applications are endless, ranging from hearing aid to container sized batteries to power a cluster of villages. Lithium-ion batteries can power any electrical application without the need of physical wires, meaning can be anything wireless.
Source: raasigroup
