Honeywell and FREYR Battery, a Norwegian manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, have reached a major supply agreement and exchange of ESS technologies and components.
Honeywell, a US-based technology company, is involved in many industries. These include aerospace and performance materials for building and industrial controls systems. Honeywell is also a major player in the energy storage sector, providing both technology solutions as well as financing and service contracts in many global markets.
FREYR is building gigafactories across Europe. Its first 2GWh plant is currently being constructed in Mo i Rana in Norway. The company aims to produce 83GWh annually by 2028 and has an interim goal of 43GWh for 2025.
The company stated that it is committed to sustainability and has signed an agreement with Glencore for partially-recycled cobalt. It also uses cheap renewable energy to power its production processes in its home country.
FREYR, according to today’s agreement between the companies, will use Honeywell’s relevant technology offerings such as integrated automation, field instrumentation, and security integration solutions to its manufacturing processes. This is subject to viability.
Honeywell will buy 19GWh FREYR battery cells from 2023 to 2030.
These cells can be used in ESS in a variety of applications. The pair primarily targets the commercial and industrial (C&I), although a press release stated that they could also be used at behind-the-meter sites.
This deal comes on the heels of FREYR Battery’s December announcement that it had signed a 31GWh offtake agreement for approximately US$3B with an undisclosed customer in the energy storage industry.
FREYR and Koch Strategic Platforms, an investment arm of Koch Industries that specializes in venture capital, formed a joint venture (JV), in October to examine the construction of US battery manufacturing facilities. They also floated the possibility of creating an initial 50GWh annual manufacturing capacity in the US by 2030.
The battery company is currently looking to form a JV with Taiwan-based company Alees in order to establish localized production of lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP), cathodes within the Nordic region. It has also established a technology partnership agreement with 24M, a leading US lithium-ion battery tech company.
SemiSolid is a spin-off of MIT that allows low-cost production and thick electrodes for batteries. 24M claims the technology can increase energy density as well as strength.
Honeywell, a sustainable infrastructure solutions company Alturus, launched its own battery storage system (BESS), platform in June 2013.
The company also offers related technologies through its Xtralis brand. It also has its own flow battery, which was launched in October. Field testing will be done this year.
Introducing decarbonized storage options at scale across multiple geographical markets is vital for our continued sustainability efforts and, in turn, makes renewable energy accessible and more efficient, Ujjwal K., President and CEO of Honeywell Process Solutions, the company’s division for industrial automation control, stated in an announcement with FREYR. The collaboration will combine FREYR’s next-generation lithium-ion batteries with Honeywell’s 20-years of industry experience and established routes to customers and markets, he states.
