Towards the sustainable giga-factory: developing green cell manufacturing processes

Project Information

GIGAGREEN

Grant agreement ID: 101069707

DOI

10.3030/101069707

EC signature date 9 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 31 August 2026

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 4 658 546,51

EU contribution

€ 4 658 546,50

Coordinated by

POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GIGAGREEN (Towards the sustainable giga-factory: developing green cell manufacturing processes)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The EU's ambitious industrial goal is to position Europe as a strategic global leader in the Li-ion battery value chain, fostering a sustainable and innovative industry that catalyzes breakthrough innovations to enhance the environmental, economic, and social performance of generation 3b Li-ion cell manufacturing. GIGAGREEN presents a meticulously structured research plan aimed at developing and upscaling novel manufacturing processes for electrodes and cell components, guided by a Design for Manufacture approach. This approach is geared towards minimizing environmental impact and energy consumption, streamlining re-use and disassembly of cell designs, optimizing cost-efficiency and safety of processes and products, and integrating high-throughput technologies that are easily scalable and automated within the framework of industry 4.0/5.0 giga-factories. Supported by a dynamic consortium of academic and industrial partners, GIGAGREEN will pursue two distinct trajectories. The first trajectory, focusing on NMP-free wet processing, targets rapid scale-up and market adoption of optimized wet coating systems in existing industrial setups (achieving final TRL6, with 30 cells of 10 Ah prototyped for demonstration). The second trajectory, centered on dry processing, will explore cutting-edge technologies to achieve a smaller TRL, paving the way for future research and innovation endeavors to further scale up the most promising dry processing techniques.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In WP1, tasked with project coordination, GIGAGREEN organized 4 general assemblies, 8 EB meetings, and additional meetings dedicated to specific issue resolutions (e.g. JM withdrawal). WP2, focusing on Design for Manufacturing, integrates digitalization to enhance technical work packages, concentrating on optimizing process parameters and electrochemical data for scalable electrodes, utilizing a dataset from laboratory-scale experiments undergoing rapid development. WP2 maintains a broad perspective on technical work packages to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in the project. WP3 oversees the initial development and validation of cell components (TRL3 to 4) for wet and dry electrode processing routes, yielding significant outcomes such as the selection of cell components based on chemical/physical and electrochemical characterization in WP5 and the definition of electrode preparation procedures for both liquid and dry processes. Activities in WP3 also encompass the structuring of current collectors and separators, along with preliminary modeling endeavors in electrode texturing. WP5 focuses on testing electrodes and cells, with defined testing protocols applied to numerous electrodes produced using different material combinations from WP3. WP6 evaluates the environmental, social, and cost performance of processes developed within the GIGAGREEN project, identifying main hotspots using the SUNDIAL digital platform. Additionally, WP6 concentrates on designing a direct recycling process to minimize waste produced by the factory concept within the GIGAGREEN project. Finally, WP7 has achieved promising initial results in terms of project awareness through various communication and dissemination actions led by SIE in collaboration with the entire consortium, including participation in events, initial steps in clustering with related initiatives, and ongoing abstract submissions to adhere to open science principles. Similarly, the original key exploitable results identified for the project have been refined and are continuously monitored to ensure future project exploitation

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

- A thriving, globally competitive cell manufacturing industry driven by knowledge and innovation.
To eliminate NMP, GIGAGREEN pursues the development of novel materials tailored to innovative dry and wet electrode processing techniques, facilitating the creation of design-for-manufacture guidelines and a data-driven digital twin. By replacing NMP with water in lab-scale electrode manufacturing, GIGAGREEN anticipates significant cost reductions, including up to 10% in capital costs, 85% in waste management, and 65% in solvent expenses. These reductions will be further validated in the cost analysis of WP6.
While water-based processes have shown effectiveness at the lab scale, further optimization is needed to match the performance of NMP-based electrodes and scale up to larger battery cell formats. These objectives will be addressed in the remaining tasks of WP3 and the upcoming WP4, scheduled to begin in Aug-2024.

- Leading in sustainability.
GIGAGREEN aims to exceed the mandated recycled component in batteries (50% by weight) by adopting a cradle-to-cradle approach, promoting circular economy principles. In addition to recycling metals (Cu, Ni, Al) and plastics, GIGAGREEN seeks to recycle both active materials and electrolyte, contributing to resource conservation. The potential of the Direct Recycling of End-of-Life GIGAGREEN cells approach is highlighted by its low GHG emissions, energy consumption, chemical costs, and water usage. The overall sustainability enhancement will be evaluated through a lifecycle assessment study of final GIGAGREEN cells and the recycling process conducted in WP6.
Over the 18 months of the project, GIGAGREEN, through WP6, has progressed in developing the process flow design for direct recycling of GIGAGREEN cells, focusing on preserving the original host structure. Ongoing studies include electrolyte removal and electrode degradation mechanisms, crucial for determining the purification process required to maintain the original host structure. The recycling process's design will be validated through experimental work aiming to achieve the targeted recycling yield (>85% input wt) as defined by the KPIs, with experiments scheduled to commence in M24 of the project.