Morrow Batteries has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine’s State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving (SAEE). It covers the prospect of supplying LFP battery cells for battery energy storage systems to strengthen Ukraine’s energy system.
Frequently affected by blackouts and irregular power supply owing to continuing Russian attacks, Ukraine is in direct need of stable power to continue to protect its civilian population and maintain the security of Ukrainian society. The country aims to build a distributed BESS grid.
“We … will do our part in being ready to sign a firm offtake agreement with relevant authorities in Ukraine and are ready to start deliveries of battery cells from the first quarter of 2025”, said CEO Lars Christian Bacher of Morrow Batteries.
Potentially, deliveries under the agreement could reach GWh levels, although the exact volumes are yet to be agreed. Ukraine has a significant need for batteries over the next years to help stabilise its energy system.
Head of SAEE Anna Zamazeeva commented: securing stable power supply is important for Ukraine, and president Zelensky has defined it as a task for the government to establish energy storage facilities in every school and hospital as soon as possible. This underlines the need to build a strong battery value chain in Europe. Access to batteries produced by European vendors is a critical factor for building less vulnerable grids and ensuring batteries for mobile solutions”.
As the need is urgent, the parties will work closely together to mature the MoU agreement as soon as possible. The final contract will be awarded based on future autonomous negotiations and may involve external financial donors, scientific research institutions and organizations, government and other funds. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells will be produced at the recently opened Morrow Cell Factory in Arendal, Norway, and at Morrow’s projected factory in Arendal, the Eyde I gigafactory.
Morrow Batteries, which has shipped huge numbers of LFP samples to potential customers for testing and validation, says it can now deliver a commercially viable, thoroughly tested, competitive LFP product. It will begin production from its first gigafactory in Arendal, Norway, in the second half of 2024 and start mass production in the fourth quarter.
