Deep Blue , through the European projects BatMachine and Phoenix , is committed to addressing crucial challenges for the industrial production of electric batteries, for grid-based energy storage and for a more sustainable future.
BATMACHINE: for a more eco-friendly production process
The European BATMACHINE project aims to increase and strengthen the industrial production of electric batteries by introducing cutting-edge machinery and integrating control processes through the use of artificial intelligence. Funded under the Horizon Europe program, BATMACHINE involves 11 partners from 7 European countries.
Johan Blondelle, Director General for Research and Innovation, said: “It is crucial that the European Union promotes and develops the cellular battery sector ; energy storage is now more important than ever, and Europe needs to develop this area if it wants to be self-sufficient and competitive .”
To meet future battery demand, production must become more cost-effective, but also more environmentally friendly. One way to achieve this is to reduce energy consumption during production and introduce digital tools to improve the entire process.
To achieve this, BATMACHINE will implement targeted interventions, including:
- Develop new machinery for the production of battery cells , minimizing the amount of energy used and aiming to improve the efficiency of the plants.
- Implement intelligent quality control and Industry 4.0 processes to enable the integration and optimization of production sites.
- Optimize costs and energy consumption of the production process , including through the integration of low-carbon energy sources.
- Implement standards currently being designed and analyze the environmental and social impacts of different machinery and supply chains , in order to suggest more sustainable practices.
- Strengthen collaboration between different parts of the production process .
PHOENIX: New intelligent features for electric batteries .
In addition to improving production processes, Europe intends to usher in a new era of smart, technologically advanced batteries that prioritize safety, durability, and, last but not least, environmental sustainability.
The PHOENIX project , part of the large-scale BATTERY 2030+ initiative, is positioned exactly in this direction .
The ambition of Battery 2030+ is to make Europe a world leader in the development and production of the batteries of the future. Batteries will need to store more energy, last longer, be safer and more environmentally friendly, and be capable of embracing a sustainable future. The goal is to create safer batteries with better performance, more storage options, and a longer lifespan.
As part of this initiative, PHOENIX seeks to explore a range of intelligent capabilities in self-healing, sensing, and actuation. By seamlessly integrating these diverse capabilities, it aims to bring about a transformative shift in the energy storage technology landscape.
Thanks to the use of an advanced Battery Management System (BMS), it will be possible to detect different types of performance reduction and evaluate the overall quality of the battery: the lifespan will improve by up to +100% (from 250 to 500 charging cycles).
Prototyping and demonstrations will be conducted on Generation 3b and Generation 4a lithium-ion batteries, designed for high voltage and fast charging, suitable for both electric mobility and stationary applications. The goal is to reduce specific battery costs by 10% while enabling the recycling of self-healing materials without significantly altering current recycling processes.
Rebecca Hueting , Senior Consultant for Deep Blue , emphasized: “Deep Blue has been contributing to European research in the field of renewable energy for several years, for a transition that protects the environment, distributes benefits fairly, and minimizes the associated impacts. For this reason, we recently joined these two projects that focus on greater battery sustainability: today our work focuses on raising awareness, that is, spreading in-depth information about industrial innovations that improve both the effectiveness of manufacturing processes, by reducing raw materials, and the durability of final products. In the near future, the goal is to spread our user-centric and Human Factors approach, to help identify processes and use cases on