Rosatom will charge from South Korea – Kommersant

From the documents published by the Korean developer of lithium-ion batteries Enertech International, it became known that it was almost completely consolidated by Rosatom. Back in 2021, the state corporation bought 49% from Ener1 holding Boris Zingarevich, and in 2022 – from him another 49%. Using Enertech technology, Rosatom will produce batteries for electric vehicles at a gigafactory in Kaliningrad. Buying “mature technology” looks like the right decision, experts say, since it would take several years to create your own.

Rosatom has become the sole owner of the South Korean manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries Enertech International, follows from the Korean company’s financial statements for 2022. Renera, which is part of the state corporation, increased its share from 49.16% to 98.32% by fully buying out the stake owned by TVG Saehan Holdings Limited (a structure of the Ener1 holding). The parties closed the deal in 2022. The main owner of Ener1, according to media reports, is the founder of the Ilim group, Boris Zingarevich. Rener declined to comment, citing confidentiality of the contract.

Initially, Renera entered the capital of Enertech in 2021, having bought out 49.16% from TVG SEI Holdings Limited (also part of Ener1). The state corporation needs battery production technology to launch a gigafactory in the Kaliningrad region. According to Kommersant’s information, the first deal did not stipulate further redemption of shares.

Enertech is a relatively small 150 MWh plant with its own R&D center. The company cooperated with BMW, Samsung and LG, supplied batteries for the Norwegian electric vehicles Think. Judging by open data, in 2018 Enertech released a battery system for the Russian Aurus limousine, on which President Vladimir Putin rode to the inauguration. However, with no anchor battery buyer, Enertech was in financial trouble. The report notes that the company’s liabilities exceed its assets. The accumulated loss reached 87 billion won ($64 million). In 2022 alone, Enertech made a profit of 2.96 billion won ($2.2 million) for the first time in recent years.

Renera plans to launch a plant with a capacity of 4 GWh per year (approximately 50,000 electric vehicles) in autumn 2025. JSC “Kama” (a project of Sergey Kogogin and Ruben Vardanyan) wants to put these batteries in the electric car “Atom” (see Kommersant of May 11). Enertech in 2021 created the Renera-Enertek structure, which in 2023 registered five patents for inventions in the Russian Federation, including a patent for a battery for an electric vehicle with improved cooling characteristics. Patent authors have Korean names. The revenue of Renera-Enertek, according to Spark, in 2022 amounted to 705 million rubles, profit from sales – 9.5 million rubles, net loss – 171 million rubles.

Enertech is developing a fairly advanced NMC technology (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide batteries), which is most suitable for use in electric vehicles, says Igor Chausov from ANO EnergyNet Center. “Rosatom’s decision to acquire the technology can only be welcomed, since Russia needs large quantities of lithium-ion batteries already now, and creating its own technology will take three to four years at best,” he believes.

Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting adds that in 2021 Enertech announced the start of production of batteries using NMC811 technology. “Such chemistry should reduce the cost of the cell by using less cobalt,” he notes. “The company spent at least five years developing the technology, given that they already had developments.”

The Russian technology for the production of lithium-ion batteries is being created by the Inenergy consortium with Rosatom under an agreement with the government of the Russian Federation, Igor Chausov notes: in conditions of fierce competition, it will be much more difficult to recoup the costs of its creation.”

Polina Smertina