AMTE Power has received planning permission to extend its Thurso production facility, upping the rate of batteries being built.
Its half-year financial statement saw turnover of £810,000 - up 31% on the 620,000 made during the same period the previous year - although losses before tax grew to £2.65m, from £1.46m the previous year.
Improved balance sheet strength of £6.26m cash or cash equivalents - up from just £22,000 - should underpin the company's investment phase.
AMTE's planned announcement of its Gigafactory site in 2022 should support a ramp up in production, to meet growing demand driven by the global energy transition.
Three potential sites have been identified in the UK, with engagement underway with local authorities and design development. A final decision on site selection is expected in 2022, with commercial production in 2025.
"As a result of refining product development, scale up, and increasing operational capacity, we expect reduced revenue and a moderate impact on loss before tax over the next two years," the statement noted.
The company's battery cell development continues at pace, with both the Ultra Energy (UE) cell and Ultra High Power (UHP) cell currently undergoing "significant scale up and testing trials" at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, where the UK Government has invested £130m into a high-rate cell production facility.
Trials using 'Gigascale production' equipment have achieved their goals and AMTE is looking "to raise the bar further".
Development and commercial partnerships are "maturing to active commercial discussions", with named development and steering committee partners including BMW, Arrival, QinetiQ and Faradion.
Also during the period, AMTE announced the launch of an Australian joint venture with InfraNomics. The company is set to licence its Ultra Storage cell to joint venture company Bardan Cells. The proposed factory has initial target of 200,000 cells per annum, with a plan to scale to 2GWh.
Negotiations with equipment suppliers is nearing completion, and site selection, equipment ordering and ground-breaking are all expected in 2022. Bardan's work is expected to underpin the UK Gigafactory build. The joint venture also gives AMTE access to Australia’s more mature renewables energy storage market.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/amte-power-set-expand-thurso-26440803
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