LG Energy Solution was considering procuring lamination equipment from South Korean equipment maker DSK, TheElec has learned.
The South Korean battery maker has previously secured the equipment from Shinjin Mtec and Naintec.
LG is the only company to apply the lamination process to battery production. The process laminates the cathode and anode on the separator. The electrode is attached to the separator. It is done to increase energy density and cell width of pouch batteries. The method differs from SK Innovation and Farasis, which use the z-stacking method.
DSK’s pilot equipment passed LG’s final verification recently, people familiar with the matter said.
The South Korean battery maker will likely place the orders in the second half of the year. The equipment will applied at its new production line at its Poland plant or the plant run by Ultium Cells, its joint venture with General Motors, in the US.
DSK is a partner to LG Electronics and LG Display. Naintec is also a partner to LG Display, which it supplies its equipment to.
More and more display equipment vendors are entering the battery production market. The assembly process for batteries is done similarly to back-end processes in display production.
Philoptics, SFA, System R&D and DE&T are all expanding into the battery equipment sector.
A lamination equipment costs around 3 billion won per unit. DSK recorded 32.5 billion won in sales and 14 billion won in operating loss last year. This was due to the downturn in the display market.
DSK will also likely to develop its own stacking equipment, much like its competitors that offer them together with their lamination equipment, one of the people said.
