Shyam Metalics and Energy has announced its foray into the energy storage business with battery-grade aluminium foil, a key component in lithium ion cells.

The company is preparing to become one of the first large-scale domestic contributors to the Centre's AatmaNirbhar Bharat energy storage initiative.

Shyam Metalics, with an annual output of 20,000 tonnes, is a major producer and supplier of aluminium foil for diverse industrial purposes.

“For the production of 1GWh (gigawatt-hour) of LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells, which powers a wide variety of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, 350 tonne of high purity and uniform-thickness aluminium foil is required. The demand doubles for Sodium-ion batteries where both positive and negative current collectors is expected to be using aluminium foils,” the company said.

The customised battery aluminium foil from Shyam Metalics with thickness ranging from 12-micron to 20-micron has been tested and validated by third-party laboratories.

“The company also has the necessary German equipment that can manufacture aluminium foils as thin as six micron, which will be suitable for future, where the foil thickness is expected to decrease with evolving Lithium-ion cell technologies for an improved value of cell gravimetric energy density,” it added.