Battery startup Aceleron has secured almost £1 million in funding from the government.

The company launched its circular economy lithium-ion battery earlier this year.

The £927,000 investment will go towards ‘Project BATLAB’ as part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund.  

In a bid to boost ‘green innovation’ across the UK and help businesses to reduce their carbon emissions, the government has identified projects that are developing new technologies to increase energy efficiency – including providing cleaner ways to generate power and heat.

The project will see a more sustainable build process for batteries in the UK market, where everything needed for the entire life cycle of the battery, from first life to repurposing will be available in the same environment where it was originally built. 

The project will also develop the ability to repurpose EV battery packs within the facility. Aspire Engineering, Venture Engineering and University College London will work as collaborative partners to develop the facility.  

“One of the key barriers to a sustainable battery is trying to extract more value from it before moving it on to a second life,” said Carlton Cummins (pictured), co-founder and chief technical officer.

“We want to create a ‘containerised facility,’ where all the equipment, tooling and components to build, repair, upgrade and, in some cases, monitor every battery arrives and stays in one place.

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“The same equipment will then be available, in its container, for servicing, repairing and eventually deconstructing the battery throughout its entire life cycle. Once the battery has come to the end of its life, the waste can be returned to its origins for repurposing.

“We still have a lot to learn on the concept but we have the people and the business model ready to develop it into a workable solution that will address the inherent waste of resources in the life cycle of most batteries today.  

“At a time when the world’s focus is on energy storage, this funding will enable us to move the battery industry forward and reduce the harmful impact of batteries on the environment.”

 

Ian Briggs from Aspire Engineering added: “We are delighted to be working alongside our customer, Aceleron, and partners on this exciting project.

“We will be able to showcase our expertise in designing and implementing custom automation to deliver the BATLAB project – which will be supported by our green credentials, providing circular economy solutions to enhance the project deliverables.”