AGC Glass Europe and GDI extend collaboration to develop and industrialize 100% silicon anodes for batteries to replace graphite

US battery technology company GDI will construct its first manufacturing plant in Lauenförde, Germany to produce silicon anodes for EV batteries. Production will start in 2025 and scale up to 100 MWh by 2026 and up to 1GWh by 2029. GDI will partner with glass producer AGC Glass Europe to provide coating expertise, advanced manufacturing equipment, and know-how for the production of 100% silicon anodes.

On 29 September 2022, GDI, a manufacturer of 100% silicon anodes, and AGC Glass Europe (AGC), a technology innovator and world leader in flat glass for the automotive, solar, and high-tech industries, and Schlenk SE (Schlenk), a German-based leading international manufacturer of metal powders, pigments, and foils for a wide variety of industries, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and manufacture an Advanced Silicon Anode to power electric vehicles and decrease dependence on graphite.

On 10 January 2024, GDI and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement on a financial instrument worth €20 million to scale up the production of the silicon anode. The EIB loan will support GDI in developing its 100% silicon anode technology towards gigawatt scale industrial production in collaboration with AGC and Schlenk. Production capacity of 100 MWh is expected by 2026 with planning for 1 GWh capacity by 2029.

AGC Glass Europe, through its business unit AGC Plasma Technology Solutions, will engineer, manufacture and use its state of the art PlasmaMAX™ PECVD coating technology as a production system for ultra-high rate deposition in the mass production of 100% silicon anodes with superior quality, unparalleled uniformity control, and high precursor utilization rates. In addition, GDI has selected the AGC industrial site in Lauenförde near Holzminden in Lower Saxony to provide coating expertise, advanced manufacturing equipment, and know-how.

Silicon anodes have the potential to increase Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cell energy density by over 30% compared with today’s graphite anodes, substantially increasing the range of vehicle batteries. The technology can also enable hundreds of 15-minute fast charging sessions, overcoming the last barrier to broad EV adoption. GDI has verified through third party safety testing that multi-Amp hour, high-energy, Lithium-ion cells with its 100% silicon anode can pass nail penetration testing. The technology will make electric vehicles more attractive to consumers and help to decarbonize the transport sector. Additional applications will include Medtech, drones, laptops, power tools, and construction equipment.

Rob Anstey, GDI Founder/CEO, said: “GDI developed an industry-changing battery technology that needed to be scaled as quickly and efficiently as possible. AGC’s unique industrial experience in the mass production of PECVD thin-film coatings helped us to dramatically accelerate that timeline. With the new financial support, we will now proceed to scale this partnership to industrial scale manufacturing with the EIB, Schlenk SE, and AGC.”

Davide Cappellino, President of AGC Glass Europe said "We are excited to be working with GDI to scale up its 100% silicon anode to GWh production towards the end of the decade. The fact that a US company wants to deliver its first anode Gigafactory in Europe is testament to the skills and technologies we have at AGC."