NAWA Technologies, a developer of next-generation ultracapacitor-based energy storage systems, is moving to mass production before the year end.
Having completed its technical development programme, NAWA has also successfully raised €9m from venture capitalists, and is now preparing to install a first-of-its-kind production line at its Aix-en-Provence facility in the south of France. NAWA hopes to produce 100,000 ultracapacitor cells a month when at full capacity. With today’s global market for ultracapacitors worth about €500m, with estimated €2-3bn by 2023, the company is positioning itself to take advantage of this demand.
“The installation of new manufacturing equipment at our facility begins in earnest and we will soon supply cells to a wide range of global sectors. Our technology really does have the potential to revolutionise energy storage and there are no limits to how far we can take it,” said Pascal Boulanger, COO of NAWA Technologies.
The first global sector set to receive these revolutionary new cells will be manufacturing, where ultracapacitor cells are ideal for power tools used on production lines and for automated guided vehicles in factories, replacing lithium ion-based systems offering faster charging and longer lifetime. NAWA Technologies also sees the growing sensor-based IoT market as a being a huge beneficiary of maintenance-free, long lifetime batteries.
Other key markets are the automotive industry in hybrid cars, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell vehicles where ultra-fast carbon batteries can rapidly store (and deploy) energy from regenerative braking systems, greatly increasing energy efficiency. Future urban mobility, including electric buses, trams or autonomous vehicles is another key target.
“Global ultracapacitor demand is set to rocket in the coming years and thanks to the backing of new and existing investors, we are rapidly scaling up and we are very excited indeed to be entering the industrialisation phase with mass production imminent,” said Ulrik Grape, CEO of NAWA Technologies .
