Tag: batteries

Li-Cycle reports loss in Q3

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., the Toronto-based lithium-ion battery recycler that has a “spoke” facility at Eastman Business Park, on Thursday reported a third-quarter loss of $6.9 million, despite an 840 percent increase in sales.

For the quarter ended July 31, Li-Cycle reported revenues of $1.7 million, compared with $200,000 in the same quarter last year, driven primarily by an increase in the number of batteries and battery scrap processed at the Rochester spoke facility. Operating expenses also increased as a result of personnel costs and ramp-up of facilities including Rochester.

The net loss of $6.9 million for the quarter compared to a $1.8 million loss in the same quarter last year.

“I am incredibly proud of what the Li-Cycle team has accomplished so far in 2021, continuing our mission to solve the global battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life lithium-ion battery problem by creating a secondary supply of critical battery materials, while also ensuring a sustainable future for our planet,” said Li-Cycle President and CEO Ajay Kochhar. “Since announcing our business combination with Peridot Acquisition Corp. in February, we signed significant commercial agreements with Ultium Cells LLC — the joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution — and Univar Solutions Inc.; we began construction of our Arizona Spoke; and just yesterday, we announced plans to build an incremental fourth Spoke in Alabama.

“With the funds from our business combination transaction completed in August 2021, we believe that Li-Cycle is primed to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities created by the continuing mobility revolution,” he added.

Li-Cycle was founded in 2016 and uses a patented “spoke & hub” technology to recover and recycle lithium-ion batteries. The EBP facility produces an intermediate mixed battery material product known as “black mass” from all types of spent lithium-ion batteries. The facility, which was the second spoke for the company, has the capacity to process up to 5,000 tons of spent lithium-ion batteries per year.

In a statement, Li-Cycle officials noted that the demand for lithium-ion battery recycling has continued to exceed the company’s projections. In order to meet the growing demand, the company plans to increase and accelerate investment in the build-out of its recycling capacity, including through the development of the Alabama Spoke, increasing its processing capacity beyond that of previous plans and projections.

Li-Cycle officials said the company is confident in its ability to scale the business to at least 100,000 tons per year of spoke processing capacity and 220,000 to 240,000 tons per year of hub processing capacity by 2025.

Shares of company stock (NYSE: LICY) were trading down Friday midday at $7.85.

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NOHMs rebrands with new focus on safer Li-ion technology

NOHMs Technologies Inc. has relaunched as Sionic Energy.

Long known as a leading provider of advanced electrolyte products for next-generation lithium-ion batteries, NOHMs is transforming its business to deliver complete battery cell designs that incorporate its breakthrough technologies into a drop-in, rapidly commercialized, low-cost, high-performance, safer Li-ion technology.

Sionic’s silicon battery cell designs incorporate the company’s innovations that deliver up to 50 percent greater energy density, 30 percent lower cost and increased safety. They can be integrated into cylindrical, pouch or prismatic cell formats in existing cell production supply chains and infrastructure.

Sionic's silicon battery cell designs incorporate the company's innovations that delivery up to 50 percent greater energy density. (provided)
Sionic’s silicon battery cell designs incorporate the company’s innovations that delivery up to 50 percent greater energy density. (provided)

As part of the transformation, Ed Williams, NOHMs chairman, acting CEO and 15-year battery industry executive will assume the position of CEO and guide the company through its accelerated growth strategy into the automotive, consumer electronics and aviation battery markets.

Sionic is on track to have its battery design ready for production and commercialization in light aviation such as drones and consumer electronics sectors by late 2022, officials said.

“With the world depending on lithium-ion batteries to power our devices, our vehicles and our infrastructure, battery performance, cost and safety have become more critical metrics for success and progress than ever,” Williams said in a statement this week. “Through collaboration with the exceptional team at NOHMs, our launch of Sionic Energy unites their legacy electrolyte technologies with our recently acquired high-capacity silicon anode technology from the University of Colorado Boulder to create a truly market disruptive battery. We’re looking forward to addressing the market’s growing demand for drop-in, next-generation, lithium-ion battery technology.”

Production-scale prototype cells will be available in the fourth quarter of this year for customer evaluations and testing, officials said.

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Battery company to invest $175 million at EBP, create 100 jobs

Canadian battery recovery company Li-Cycle Corp. plans to invest $175 million in its lithium-ion battery recycling hub at Eastman Business Park, creating more than 100 jobs in the process.

In January 2020, Empire State Development said Li-Cycle would establish its first U.S.-based spoke facility in Rochester in an effort to tap into the robust lithium-ion battery supply chain and ecosystem. That announcement came with a $23.3 million investment by Li-Cycle and assistance from Empire State Development of up to $450,000 through the Excelsior Jobs Program. The County of Monroe and Greater Rochester Enterprise Inc. also are assisting with the project.

“This international partnership with Li-Cycle will foster the supply chain of lithium-ion batteries, which are in high demand, and will further expand the thriving energy storage industry in the region,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. “By investing in New York’s cleantech economy we are creating quality jobs and supporting our state’s clean energy businesses as we build back stronger from the COVID crisis and continue to move the Finger Lakes forward.”

Li-Cycle’s “spoke” and “hub” operations will complement each other. There will be several U.S.-based spokes that aggregate and refine spent, lithium-ion batteries so that the materials are separated and can be made into products. Rochester’s Li-Cycle spoke, due to open this Fall, will be capable of shredding up to 5,000 tons per year of spent lithium-ion batteries.

Ultimately, the hub operation in Rochester will receive battery materials from the Rochester spoke and similar operations across the U.S., and process them further for use as raw materials in future manufacturing, including for new batteries. ESD is assisting Li-Cycle with up to $5 million through the Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program once the business starts meeting new employment commitments. Monroe County and Greater Rochester Enterprise are also assisting with the project.

“We are excited to be able to announce Rochester as the location of Li-Cycle’s first commercial Hub refinery. This facility will enable sustainable close-loop production of critical materials for the battery industry, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium, right here in North America supporting the development of electric vehicles and other sustainable energy applications. We deeply appreciate the continued support of the local community, government agencies and Kodak in the development of this project,” said Li-Cycle Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Tim Johnston.

Founded in 2016 in Ontario, Canada, Li-Cycle has developed and validated a unique process that allows it to recover 80 percent to 100 percent of all materials found in lithium-ion batteries while maintaining no wastewater discharge and actualizing the company’s zero-waste philosophy. All materials that are recovered from lithium-ion batteries are either processed to the point of being reusable in battery production, reusable in other applications or sent for further processing to other recyclers to ensure all materials generated are being returned to the economy.

“The planned Li-Cycle Hub project is a perfect fit for Eastman Business Park and Rochester. The Hub project needs the vast resources of the park, including the utilities provided by RED-Rochester and the rail, security, risk and facilities management services provided by Kodak. The new jobs created by the proposed project will, directly and indirectly, benefit the Rochester area,” said EBP President and Eastman Kodak Co. CFO Dave Bullwinkle.

Li-Cycle selected Eastman Business Park after determining it was the best location for the company to quickly develop the Hub by leveraging existing infrastructure at the park and provide services to its growing client base across the U.S. and beyond.

“Our investment in Li-Cycle’s lithium-ion battery recycling facility at Eastman Business Park represents our continued commitment not only to this company but in broader economic opportunities within the sustainable energy industry. This forward-thinking project will add high-quality jobs in the Finger Lakes region and advance our efforts to establish New York state as a world leader in energy storage,” said ESD Acting Commissioner and President & CEO-designate Eric Gertler.

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Battery store pushes new franchises in New York, including Rochester

Batteries Plus Bulbs, the Wisconsin-based company that has had just one store in the Rochester area for nearly nine years, is planning a big franchise push in New York.

659-tallahassee-fl-batteries-plus-bulbsRod Tremelling, franchise director for the company, said Batteries Plus Bulbs hopes to have 55 more stores in New York, adding to the five already existing. In the Rochester area, Batteries Plus Bulbs is targeting the Fishers section of Victor, Greece, and Irondequoit. The only outlet in the Rochester area now is located at 1100 Jefferson Avenue in Henrietta.

The company, formed in 1988 in Green Bay, is sweetening the pot for potential franchise owners by offering $45,000 in financial support to open a store whose costs are estimated at $225,000, including franchise fees.

Tremelling said about 75 percent of the store’s business is in batteries  and the remainder is bulbs, with 70 percent of the overall business devoted to retail consumers and 30 percent to business-to-business customers. They return because they find the range of products useful, even for the ones they can find elsewhere, or for repair services.

Consumers – both walk-ins and business-to-business customers – come to Batteries Plus Bulbs looking for hard-to-find batteries that aren’t necessarily available in the battery section of mass market stores, Tremelling said.

“They make the assumption that you can get batteries everywhere and that isn’t necessarily the case,” Tremelling said.

Even manufacturers aren’t always a reliable source of these products, such as for children’s riding toys, wheelchairs, and cellphones, he said.  Batteries Plus Bulbs also performs minor repairs, such as replacing broken screens on a cellphone or tablet.

“Manufacturers making the device, they’re not a true after-market supplier for the product,” Tremelling said. “You buy the product and it’s going to be functional for three to five years. When that (battery) fails, where do you go to get it? ” Big box stores where you might have purchased that rechargeable hedge trimmer have often moved on to new models with different batteries by the time you need a new battery for an older model, he said.

Batteries Plus Bulbs currently has stores in East Amherst, Erie County; Schenectady, Albany and White Plains. A sixth store is planned in Latham, Albany County.  New stores are planned all over the state, including Long Island. Tremelling said.

“Long Island is an undiscovered country for us,” Tremelling said, but Upstate New York feels similar to Wisconsin. The company is now headquartered in Hartland, Wisc.

Tremelling said it takes about six months to open a store once a potential franchise owner has decided to commit. Interested parties can contact him through the company’s website.

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NOHMS to work with RIT on new batteries

NOHMs Technologies Inc. is working to develop batteries that are optimized for indoor use and conform to state building and fire codes and that also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, Technology and Business Innovation group, NOHMs will create optimized electrolyte formulations that overcome traditional barriers to commercialization associated with ionic liquid electrolyte, including performance and cost.

The final goal of the project is to demonstrate an energy storage system that meets performance and to establish a commercialization path for the new materials, including manufacturing process and cost assessment, market studies and regulatory requirements, as well as estimates of greenhouse gas reductions.

“Since NOHMs Technologies’ founding, NYSERDA has supported our work to develop and commercialize materials to enable high-energy, longer-lasting and more durable batteries,” NOHMs CEO Nathan Ball said. “We’re pleased to draw on our experience developing products that could support New York State in meeting its energy storage targets.”

A prototype battery will be built and undergo rigorous performance and safety testing against regulatory standards for indoor batteries, officials said. NOHMs also will collaborate with experts from Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability to evaluate potential savings of greenhouse gas emissions compared with the current grid energy mix, analyze regulatory and market requirements for urban electrical energy storage and establish a path to commercialization.

The project is part of New York’s target of 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030.

NOHMs was founded in 2010 by researchers from Cornell University seeking to commercialize lithium sulfur batteries they had developed at the university.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
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NOHMS to create batteries with environment in mind

NOHMS Technologies Inc. will begin developing batteries with the electrical grid and climate stress in mind.

The Rochester manufacturer—established in 2011 as a spinout from Cornell University—has received funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Technology and Business Innovation group to create optimized electrolyte formulations that overcome traditional barriers to commercialization, including performance and cost.

The final goal of the project is to demonstrate an energy storage system that meets performance goals and to establish a commercialization path for the new materials, including manufacturing process and cost assessment, market studies and regulatory requirements, as well as estimates of greenhouse gas reductions.

Company officials said a prototype battery will be built and undergo performance and safety testing against regulatory standards for indoor batteries. NOHMS also will collaborate with experts from Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability to evaluate potential savings of greenhouse gas emissions compared with the current grid energy mix.

“Since NOHMs Technologies’ founding, NYSERDA has supported our work to develop and commercialize materials to enable high-energy, longer-lasting, and more durable batteries,” said NOHMS CEO Nathan Ball in a statement. “We’re pleased to draw on our experience developing products that could support New York State in meeting its energy storage targets.”

Based in Eastman Business Park, NOHMs provides materials and chemistry for longer-lasting, safer and more sustainable lithium-ion batteries, and partners with automotive, battery and chemical manufacturing companies to develop and integrate custom solutions for automotive and mobile device products.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer