Johnson Matthey (JM) says its new battery materials plant in Konin, Poland received a combined investment of 135 million euros (US $ 162 million) from two development banks.

The joint financing includes a loan of 90 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a loan of 45 million euros from the KfW IPEX-Bank.

JM’s Konin site will produce cathode materials for electric car batteries and become the world’s leading production site for eLNO, its portfolio of next-generation ultra-high energy density cathode materials. These should improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries and help promote the use of electric vehicles on a larger scale.

The production capacity at Konin will be 10,000 tonnes of eLNO per year, sufficient for around 100,000 fully electric vehicles. In addition, the site, which will go into production in 2022, has the potential to grow by ten thanks to new investments. Construction of the plant began this year.

JM aims to make the manufacture of its products energy efficient by using automation technology and electricity from renewable sources. The supplier is also committed to respecting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“We are very happy to finance this historic project, which marks a big step forward in making electric cars not only an ecological alternative, but also increasingly competitive and attractive, to traditional vehicles”, said the regional director of the EBRD for Central Europe and responsible for Poland, Grzegorz Zielinski.

“We also welcome the creation of new jobs and expect an additional positive impact from the transfer of know-how associated with this important investment. ”