Australian battery company Redflow has set a target of 3000 batteries a year to be produced by its new Thai factory, which it is currently fitting out.
Redflow chairman Brett Johnson said on Monday the ASX-listed company aimed to produce as many as 3000 batteries a year, and once the Thai facility was fully operational, it would have the capacity to manufacture as many as 250 batteries a month.
“I am confident that once our new factory is producing quality batteries, Redflow will be able to demonstrate that it has a unique and viable product with real benefits for many energy storage applications,” he said.
Johnson says Redflow (ASX:RFX) — a Brisbane-based company which has serial entrepreneur Simon Hackett as its largest shareholder — said the initial sales focus would be on market sectors with established battery demand where its technology has a clear competitive advantage over conventional batteries, notably lead-acid.
{loadposition peter}“These markets include telecommunications and network power and applications where there is either no or limited grid power available,” Johnson said.
Redflow announced last month that it had started installing battery production equipment at its new factory in Thailand, putting it on track to commence initial operation by the end of this year.
Through its Thai subsidiary, Redflow has signed a three-year lease on a1500-square-metre building at the Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate, part of the IEAT free trade zone, 110km southeast of Bangkok and 25km from the Laem Chabang deep sea container port.
Johnson, who became Redflow’s independent non-executive chairman in September, has more than 10 years’ experience as a director of listed companies, including at Scott Corporation Limited and Helloworld Limited. He also worked for more than 25 years as a senior executive of listed Australian companies, including Memtec Limited and Qantas Airways Limited.
Johnson said Redflow chief executive Richard Aird and his team were working tirelessly to establish the company’s new manufacturing facility near Bangkok.
“While fully supporting the work in Thailand, the Redflow team in Brisbane continues to enhance our battery technology, support our customer base and manufacture a limited number of batteries to ensure supply for our customers.
“Redflow is at an exciting point in its history, after developing the world’s smallest zinc-bromine flow batteries with unique energy storage benefits; having established demand for its batteries from telecommunications, commercial and residential customers; and recently starting the installation of its production line equipment at a new factory in Thailand.”