Johnson Matthey to build new battery materials plant

Johnson Matthey has announced that it is building a demonstration-scale plant in Clitheroe, Lancashire to manufacture next-generation battery materials to power electric vehicles.

The new, multi-million-pound plant will have a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per annum and will be used to provide sample quantities of their market-leading eLNO^TM battery material to its global customers.

The firm says the demonstration plant is an important step in the commercialisation of eLNO to support the qualification process with its customers and enable JM to build its market presence in next-generation battery materials.

Johnson Matthey will build a new demonstration plant in Clitheroe that will manufacture next-generation battery materials to power electric vehicles / Picture: Getty/iStock

JM has used its breadth of scientific expertise to rapidly develop eLNO and this new product has already generated extremely positive feedback from customers during testing.  It is designed to enable large-scale adoption of pure battery electric vehicles with greater range and lifetime.

JM has chosen its existing site at Clitheroe to locate the new plant. Nickel is a key component of eLNO and their Clitheroe operations have extensive experience in the scale-up and manufacture of nickel-containing products.

Robert MacLeod, Chief Executive of Johnson Matthey said: “This investment is an exciting step in the commercialisation of our eLNO technology and our strategy to deliver break out growth in battery materials.  The demonstration plant at Clitheroe will enable us to support customers’ development programmes and build our market presence.  JM already makes a significant contribution to cleaner air around the world; we’re now applying our world-class science to next-generation battery materials, enabling the journey to pollution-free roads.”

Work is also underway on the design of JM’s first full-scale commercial manufacturing plant for eLNO which will be located in mainland Europe.