Talks under way to build EV battery plant in Abu Dhabi

Reuters

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China’s Sunrise New Energy is in talks with South Korea’s LG Energy and UAE’s sovereign Abu Dhabi Investment Fund for a potential partnership to set up a lithium battery material manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi.

The anticipated annual production capacity will be 50,000 tonnes of anode materials, the Chinese lithium-ion battery producer said in a statement.

The three companies are negotiating to finalise the cooperation details, which will be submitted to their respective boards for approval after the cooperation memorandum is signed.

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“The global power battery industry is currently dominated by China, Japan, and South Korea,” said Sunrise’s chairman Haiping Hu.

According to SNE Research, the top 10 global power battery companies are all from these three countries, accounting for more than 90 percent of global power battery installations. 

Abu Dhabi earlier this month unveiled plans to establish a smart and autonomous vehicles industry, which aims to add up to AED120 billion ($33 billion) to the country’s economy.

The multi-modal cluster will accelerate the deployment of smart and autonomous vehicles across air, land and sea.

The smart and autonomous vehicles industry will enable access to funding and investments, streamline regulatory services and fast-track future mobility solutions.