Kommersant: Rosatom consolidated South Korean battery manufacturer

State corporation “Rosatom» almost completely consolidated the South Korean manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries Enertech International, writes newspaper “Kommersant” with reference to the documents of the Korean company.

The Renera company, which is part of the fuel division of Rosatom, bought 49% of Enertech in 2021 from Boris Zingarevich’s Ener1 holding, and in 2022 it increased its share to 98.32% by purchasing a stake from TVG Saehan Holdings Limited, an Ener1 structure.

Enertech International, founded in 2001, specializes in the production of lithium-ion battery cells, electrodes, and energy storage systems. Since 2018, it has been producing batteries for cars. The staff of the plant is about 200 people. In addition to South Korea, the company’s products are supplied to Europe, Russia and the United States. The agreement to buy a stake in the company in 2021 included a commitment to set up a production facility for lithium-ion cells and batteries in Russia. The first stage of the plant should start operating in 2025.

Without an anchor customer for the batteries, the company has struggled financially, earning its first profit in years just last year ($2.2 million), the paper said. The accumulated loss of Enertech reached $64 million.

As noted by the publication, created by Enertech in 2021, Renera-Enertek registered five patents for inventions in Russia this year, including a battery for an electric vehicle with improved cooling characteristics. According to the newspaper, Kama JSC wants to install such batteries in its Atom electric vehicles, the serial assembly of which will start in 2025. Experts interviewed by the publication emphasized that the Russian Federation needs such batteries now, and it took at least three years to develop its own technology. -four years.