Battery materials company Echion Technologies and the world’s leading supplier of Niobium products and technology, CBMM, announced a multi-year manufacturing partnership that will construct a new 2000 tonne per year facility in Araxá, Brazil, to supply, at scale, niobium oxides anode grade to be applied in Echion’s safe, fast-charging and long-life XNO battery anode material.
The facility—due to open in early 2024— will have the capacity to supply material equivalent to 1GWh of battery cell production. This positions Echion as the first in the market to guarantee the commercial supply of niobium-based battery anode oxides.
Echion’s niobium-based anode material XNO enables lithium-ion batteries that can safely charge in less than 10 minutes, maintain high energy densities even at low temperatures, and deliver high power across a cycle life of more than 10,000 cycles. Applications powered by XNO include battery electric and hybrid trains, mining haul trucks, high-demand buses and delivery vehicles as well as applications in motorsport and space.
With a strategy of having 25% of its revenue coming from non-steel products by 2030, CBMM will invest US$ 80 million in the expansion of its entire Niobium oxides production line, which will include this new facility.
The investment will allow total production of 3,000 tonnes of battery-grade Niobium oxide in 2024 for applications in the lithium-ion battery segment for high-power, long-life, safer, and ultra-fast charging technologies following the global mega trend of electrification. This investment is in line with CBMM strategic growth plan to reach 40,000 tonnes of Niobium oxide capacity in 2030.
