NRW awarded research production contract for battery cell
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) announced today (28 June 2019) that the consortium in NRW with the MEET Battery Research Centre, the Chair of Production Engineering for E-Mobility Components at RWTH Aachen (PEM RWTH Aachen) and Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) has been chosen for the research production of battery cells (FFB). In an elaborate Germany-wide competition, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with Münster as the location prevailed against five competitors. Research production is regarded as a pioneer in positioning Germany in the international competition for market shares in the field of electrochemical storage technologies.
Minister President Armin Laschet: "The Federal Government's decision in favour of Münster as the ideal location for the battery research factory is a strong sign of the excellence of our science and business location and at the same time confirmation of our intensive work in the application process. The result also distinguishes our great efforts as a state government in the field of e-mobility. Our clear goal is: North Rhine-Westphalia is to become a pioneer, driving force and driving force of electromobility. The research and development of high-performance storage technologies is the key success factor for sustainable development in the energy and transport sectors. The battery is of enormous strategic importance as an essentially important future technology. The establishment of the FFB in North Rhine-Westphalia is a milestone on this path. Our state offers the best conditions for battery research and production".
The state government has been intensively involved in and supported the application for the Münster location from the very beginning. The state will provide a total of more than 200 million euros for the construction and operation of the "research production battery cell". North Rhine-Westphalia applied with a research consortium led by Münster Electrochemical Energy Technology (MEET, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) together with the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich. North Rhine-Westphalia is a nationwide centre of excellence in battery cell research and production technology. Outstanding top researchers such as Professor Martin Winter from Münster (head of MEET) and his Aachen colleagues Professor Günther Schuh and Professor Achim Kampker (RWTH Aachen) are internationally leading experts in their field. "Series production of large battery cells in Germany is a missing element in important value chains that include applications with energy storage - such as electromobility," says Prof. Dr. Achim Kampker, co-initiator of the site evaluation.
The PEM of RWTH Aachen University positions itself in the application particularly through its know-how in the field of battery production processes, an extensive network in the field of mechanical and plant engineering, as well as explicit production planning knowledge in the field of battery production. The application of the North Rhine-Westphalia consortium for the FFB is supported by a large support in science and economy, among other things more than 75 companies from Germany and abroad had expressed their support for the ambitious project in Münster. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is to set up and operate the research production facility. In agreement with the City of Münster and the Münster Economic Development Corporation, a site in the Hansa Business Park in Münster was selected as the location for research production. This location offers ideal conditions for the large-scale project: "With the canal, the adjoining federal road and the railway station in Münster-Amelsbüren, research production is optimally connected via three routes," says the Lord Mayor of the City of Münster, Markus Lewe.
Not only the competences of the NRW-based institutions, the RWTH Aachen, the Forschungszentrum Jülich, the MEET Battery Research Centre of the WWU and the Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS) are bundled: "We had very strong and competent competitors," says Prof. Martin Winter, scientific director of the MEET and founding director of the HI MS and responsible applicant, "research production - is a joint project and we are looking forward to the cooperation with the outstanding battery research institutions in Germany and beyond. Together we will make the research production battery cell a success story."