Redflow aims for 3000 batteries a year from Thailand

Monday, 06 November, 2017

Australian battery company Redflow aims to produce as many as 3000 batteries a year from its new Thai factory, which it is currently fitting out, according to Redflow Chairman Brett Johnson.

In a letter to shareholders, Johnson said that once the Thai facility was fully operational, it would have the capacity to manufacture as many as 250 batteries a month.

“Our initial sales focus will be on market sectors with established battery demand where our technology has a clear competitive advantage over conventional batteries, notably lead-acid. These markets include telecommunications and network power and applications where there is either no or limited grid power available.”

The company announced last month that it has 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 the 1500-square-metre building at the Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate, part of the IEAT free trade zone, 110 km south-east of Bangkok and 25 km from the Laem Chabang deep sea container port.

Johnson said Redflow CEO 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,” he said.

“Redflow’s sales team is working with our ZBM2 and ZCell installation partners to ensure that once battery production commences in Thailand, we have the orders and strategy to increase our installed base of Redflow batteries.”

Johnson said that Redflow’s largest shareholder, Simon Hackett, who was acting CEO and executive chairman until September, remained fully engaged with the company as a non-executive director and a champion for its world-leading energy storage technology.