Largan injects NT$450 million into battery material venture with ITRI

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Largan Precision Co. has injected NT$450 million (US$14.33 million) into a joint venture with a government-funded research institution to help commercialize titanium niobate (TNO), a locally-developed material used in fast-charge lithium-ion batteries.

"Largan Energy Material," a 90-10 joint venture between the Taichung-based lensmaker and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), hopes to gain a share of a market forecast to be worth US$450 billion by 2030, Chiu Chyou-huey (邱求慧), head of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) Department of Industrial Technology, told a press conference in Taipei Tuesday.

At the press event held to mark the joint venture's inauguration, the new company's Chairman Chen Jin-ming (陳金銘) touted that Largen Energy Material has developed the new material TNO, which enables lithium-ion batteries to charge 90 percent faster than those using graphite as a negative electrode material.

Batteries that use TNO for negative electrodes also have a lifespan of around 20 years, which is three to four times that of their traditional graphite lithium-ion counterparts, said Chen, the outgoing director of the ITRI's research team on material and chemical technologies.

The applications of the material are expected to be in electric buses, energy storage systems, and hybrid cars, Chen said, adding the company had been approached by domestic and foreign potential customers.

According to Largan President Huang Yeo-chih (黃有執), commercial production of TNO on a trial basis is expected to start this year, with an initial run of around 24 tonnes.

Largan Energy Material hopes to scale up annual production to 600 tonnes by 2026, Huang added.

ITRI Vice President Chang Pei-zen (張培仁) said Largan Energy Material is a product of the MOEA's 2022 relaxation of technology transfer regulations to encourage cooperation between the research institute and the market and investors.

The development team behind TNO spoke with dozens of interested parties before reaching an agreement with Largan, which will provide NT$450 million in start-up capital to the new joint venture, according to Chen.