South Korea plans to invest 20 trillion won ($15.1bn) by 2030 to commercialise solid-state batteries, in what the ministry of trade and industry (Motie) described as the first time in the world.
The country also plans to strengthen competitiveness by quadrupling domestic production capacity of secondary battery cathode material from 380,000t to 1.58mn t, and more than tripling equipment export value from W11bn to W35bn, over the next five years.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries will be mass-produced for electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025 and "the world's best technology" is expected to be secured by 2027, in order to make secondary battery products more competitive, Motie said on 20 April.
The public and private sectors will jointly invest over W350bn to develop technology of ternary batteries, LFP batteries and energy storage systems (ESS) over the next five years. Motie expects this to raise ternary batteries' mileage from the current 500km to over 800km, and to expand ESS exports by over fivefold by 2030.
Three domestic battery firms, LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI, will build a "mother factory" with cutting-edge processes, and a solid-state battery prototype production plant in South Korea. The country will also start manufacturing 4680 cylindrical batteries and cobalt-free batteries domestically and overseas.
South Korea will conduct large-scale research and development to develop next-generation batteries, including solid-state batteries that are safer to use, lithium metal batteries with greater range, and lithium sulphur batteries that are lighter. Through this, the country plans to be the first to secure technology to mass produce solid-state batteries, Motie said.
The government also recently raised the investment tax credit rate from 8pc to 15pc for large companies and 16pc to 25pc for small- and medium-sized firms to stimulate domestic investment from materials companies. This is in addition to expanding the scope to be eligible for the tax credit to all mineral processing for secondary batteries.
South Korea also plans to recycle 100pc of secondary batteries by 2030, by preparing a used battery management system that will allow used batteries to be utilised in new industries. It will also prevent unauthorised disposal or use of these batteries by establishing a database to track their lifecycle, with plans to enact a law to manage used batteries.
"Secondary batteries require more bold innovation and investment to maintain global competitiveness," Motie minister Lee Chang-yang said.
South Korea hopes to achieve a "technology super-gap" in the secondary battery industry, and its latest move is in line with the Super Gap Project that Motie launched on 10 April. The Super Gap Project aims to nurture "super gap growth" in domestic industries, with 11 core investment areas that include semiconductors, secondary batteries, and new energy industries. The project involves allocating about 70pc of the new research and development (R&D) annual budget into selected projects. W6.2 trillion will be invested by 2027 and W13.5 trillion by 2030, through prefeasibility studies and new project sourcing.
The country also announced on 7 April a variety of support measures to advance the domestic battery industry, including W7 trillion worth of loans and guarantees from the Export-Import Bank of Korea and state-owned Korea Trade Insurance.
