Samsung SDI is set to invest $900 million (1 trillion KRW) in its battery plants this year. Its investment will be used to increase production capacity of its first electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Goed and to build another EV battery plant. By doing so, it will spur targeting of the European market that is vital to the global European market.
The company announced on Tuesday that its subsidiary in Hungary has decided on a capital increase of $390 million (430.7 billion KRW) by allocation to shareholders. Also, it will guarantee debt worth $480 million (538.3 billion KRW) for its Hungary subsidiary. The company will invest $850 million (942 billion KRW) in total for its battery plants in Hungary.
An official for Samsung SDI explained that the purpose of the investment is to target the European auto market. Samsung SDI is currently operating a 30GWh battery plant in Goed, Hungary that manufactures lithium-ion cells for EVs.
With the investment, the current production capacity of the Goed plant will increase from 30GWh to the mid or upper 40GWh range. The investment will also allow Samsung SDI to be flexible in dealing with demands from automakers. The company plans to supply its next-generation NCA (Nickel, Cobalt, Aluminum) batteries for BMW’s new EV in the second half this year. It is reported that the batteries are high-nickel batteries with 88% nickel content.
Staff Reporter Kim, Jiwoong | jw0316@etnews.com