The Ministry of Industry and Trade approved Rener’s application for a SPIC for the production of lithium-ion batteries at a gigafactory in Kaliningrad

As Kommersant found out, the Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the application of Rener (part of Rosatom) for a special investment contract (SPIC) for the production of lithium-ion batteries at a gigafactory in Kaliningrad. The SPIC will give them the right to call their products Russian even before the actual launch of the gigafactory and participate in Moscow’s tender for the supply of 400,000 batteries worth 130 billion rubles. Now Renera is transporting cells to the Russian Federation from its South Korean plant Enertech, and an enterprise in Kaliningrad with an estimated value of 51 billion rubles. will be operational in autumn 2025.

The Interdepartmental Commission of the Ministry of Industry and Trade approved Rener’s application to conclude a SPIC for the production of lithium-ion batteries, several sources told Kommersant. Renera will receive tax breaks in exchange for investment in the construction of a gigafactory in the Kaliningrad region.

Renera will sign a contract with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Kaliningrad Region. The SPIC will include three elements: production of cells, batteries and energy storage systems. Rosatom, according to Kommersant’s information, plans to announce the conclusion of an agreement at SPIEF. Rener refused to disclose the details of the SPIC before signing the contract. The Ministry of Industry and Trade did not answer “Kommersant”.

The main preference for Rener from SPIK is a simplified acquisition of the “made in Russia” status for products.

Renera will transport cells from South Korea from the Enertech International plant (Renera owns 98.32% of the company), which, thanks to the SPIC, will be considered localized even before the start of the gigafactory in Kaliningrad. The gigafactory is planned to be built by the fall of 2025, and by 2030 it will be brought to full capacity. The volume of investments in the Kaliningrad plant, including the R&D center, is estimated at 51 billion rubles. (see “Kommersant” dated January 31).

The status of localized batteries will allow Rosatom to participate in Moscow’s future tender for the supply of 400,000 batteries for electric vehicles worth 130 billion rubles. (see “Kommersant” dated November 30, 2022). The participant is obliged to produce cells in Moscow, but if the development of this production is impossible, then the city will purchase any cells with the status “made in Russia”, follows from the conditions of the competition. Now Renera is assembling batteries at the site of the Moscow Polymetal Plant (capacity – 150 MWh), and by the end of the year the company plans to start assembling modules at Technopolis Moscow (320 MWh).

Rosatom also hopes to supply batteries to automakers.

In 2023-2025, the state corporation wants to sell 690 MWh batteries domestically for 14.8 billion rubles, and in 2030 – already 3.75 GWh for 35.6 billion rubles. Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting believes that the plans look quite realistic. 690 MWh – a little more than 10 thousand electric vehicles, and 3.75 GWh – about 60-70 thousand. In January-May 2023, almost 3.4 thousand electric vehicles were sold in the Russian Federation, Avtostat reported, however the main share of sales falls on cars imported into the Russian Federation, including parallel imports. At the same time, 719 cars out of the total volume were sold by Evolute, which assembles cars in Lipetsk. Sergey Udalov from Avtostat notes that now there is a period of growth in the market for electric vehicles. According to him, by 2025, annual sales may reach 10,000 units – cars, among other things, will be purchased in taxis, car sharing and other commercial parks.

In 2025, only Kama JSC planned to produce 10 thousand Atom machines – Renera announced plans to equip them with its own batteries. In addition, Rener and Avtotor have a valid cooperation agreement. The Kaliningrad automaker clarified to Kommersant that they plan to purchase lithium-ion drives from Rener “for the production of batteries directly at the enterprise.” The start of production is scheduled for 2024, the capacity will be designed for the production of 60 thousand batteries, but Avtotor does not disclose the planned load. Sollers said they are considering Rener as the main supplier for the battery localization project. AvtoVAZ and Evolute did not answer questions about cooperation plans.

However, Rosatom may encounter problems in the localization of components. The main difficulties will be associated with the production of cathode and anode materials of the required quality, Igor Chausov from ANO EnergyNet Center believes. Now the necessary lithium raw materials are not produced in the Russian Federation, enterprises for its production should appear by 2026–2030. The anode material is better supplied with raw materials, but it will not be easy to meet the stringent requirements for its quality, Mr. Chausov says.

Polina Smertina, Olga Nikitina