Indian Oil, Israel's Phinergy enter Al-Air battery joint venture
10 Feb 2020
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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), the country’s top refiner and fuel marketer, has entered into a joint venture agreement with Israel’s Phinergy to produce aluminium-air (Al-Air) batteries, an alternative to costly and more popular lithium-ion batteries.
State-run IOC will hold a minority stake in the joint venture with Phinergy, IOC stated without specifying the size or the value of the stake.
IOC said the joint venture automobile battery venture is part of the company’s quest to embrace emerging energy alternatives and to firm up viable, customer-convenient automobile battery technology options.
IOC and Phinergy are now in the process of forming a joint venture in India for collaboration in the field of Al-Air battery system, including research and development, customisation, manufacturing, assembly, sales and servicing of aluminium-air energy systems technology. The joint venture will manufacture Al-Air batteries for electric vehicles and stationary applications and facilitate development of eco-system for Al-Air technology, IOC stated in a release.
Aluminium is abundantly available in India and its extraction and recycling technologies are also very well established. IndianOil's collaboration with Phinergy in the field of Al-Air will help in reducing import dependence of the country and ensure the country's energy security in risky geo-political environments.
Referring to the affirmative step in battery technology space, Sanjiv Singh, chairman, IOC, said the company is evaluating and firming up a number of opportunities to provide Indian automobile consumers feasible and scalable alternative energy options.
Singh said the IOC could use its vast retail network to supply the automotive sector in India, where the government is pushing for a shift to electric vehicles to cut pollution and lower the country’s fuel import bill.
“We are confident that this Al-Air battery technology would complement lithium-ion batteries to provide a hybrid solution for the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles,” he said in a company statement.
Phinergy is a start-up in clean and high energy-density battery systems based on metal-air technology, which generates electricity using aluminium or zinc as an energy source mainly. Phinergy's CEO, Mr. David Mayer added "Phinergy is glad to join forces with IOC and share the vision of enabling clean and affordable energy solutions for India".
Phinergy specialises in aluminium-air (Al-Air) and zinc-air battery systems that have great potential applications in electric mobility and stationary applications.
Both companies are in discussions with leading auto manufactures for adoption of the new battery technology in 3-wheelers, cars and buses, and they have also shown interest in evaluation and subsequent adoption of this technology.
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