Korea, battery makers to invest $15 billion by 2030 for next-gen products

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an emergency economic meeting on April 20. [Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

South Korea’s government and three major battery makers will invest a total of 20 trillion won ($15.12 billion) by 2030 to be the world’s first to mass produce next-generation all-solid-state batteries for electric vehicles.

The plan was unveiled as part of the country’s long-term strategy to enhance competitiveness of the domestic battery industry, which was presented during an emergency economic meeting presided over by President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday. The collaboration will help to quadruple production and triple exports of equipment in the next five years.

Under the plan, LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK on Co. will establish their respective mother factories in Korea that can produce cutting-edge battery products and innovate technologies and processes. The companies will also build a factory for manufacturing prototype solid-state batteries in the country.

The government plans to launch large-scale research and development projects for developing all-solid-state batteries, lithium metal batteries and other new items. It also plans to ramp up support for companies producing materials, components, and equipment for batteries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The three companies are aiming to complete their respective all-solid-state battery test lines in the first half of this year and commercialize them as early as in 2026.

First of all, Samsung SDI plans to complete its pilot line at its research center in Suwon in the first half of this year, and start producing prototypes in the second half. Samsung SDI already presented a roadmap for all-solid-state batteries and a direction for technological development at Auto Shanghai 2023 currently being held in Shanghai, China. The company aims to mass produce all-solid-state batteries in 2027. The industry believes that Samsung SDI’s all-solid-state battery technology has reached a significant level.

LG Energy Solution plans to commercialize polymer-based all-solid-state batteries by 2026 and sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries by 2030. SK on aims to establish an all-solid-state battery pilot line next year and mass produce the batteries in 2029. Currently, the company is independently developing lithium metal anode materials at its research center.

[Courtesy of each company]

Industry insiders expect competition between Korea, China and Japan to intensify for the development of all-solid-state batteries. In this regard, the government’s goal of making Korea the first country to commercialize the batteries can be seen as reflecting its strong determination to maintain the country’s dominant position in the future battery war among the three countries.

During the meeting on Thursday, Yoon stressed the need to maintain the country’s “competitiveness and super-gap technologies through technological innovation that dramatically improves performance and safety.”

“Korea’s rechargeable battery industry has the world’s best competitiveness with high technology and mass-production capabilities, but the challenge of maintaining that position is also formidable,” Yoon noted.

Some industry insiders, however, are voicing caution against all rosy outlooks for all-solid-state batteries. They say that since the technical barriers to commercializing all-solid-state batteries are still high, it is necessary to be careful in setting a goal for commercialization.

“Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a prototype car equipped with an all-solid-state battery for the first time in the world in 2021, but it seems far from being commercialized,” said an industry insider. “It is important not to lose competitiveness in this field as lithium-ion batteries will continue to be the trend for at least 10 years.”

Another official also pointed out that “patents are important for cutting-edge industries such as battery technology” and that “it should be a priority to create an ecosystem that can secure source technologies.”

All-solid-state batteries are touted as dream batteries due to their dramatically high energy density and safety, but no company in the world has yet been able to commercialize them. In this regard, not only battery companies around the world but also automobile companies are engaged in fierce competition for development.

Global solid-state battery production capacity is expected to increase to 950 gigawatt hours in 2035 from 0.06GWh last year, 1GWh in 2025, and 149GWh in 2030, according to SNE Research, a battery market research institute.