On December 4, Shanghai Pret Composites Co. Ltd. announced that its holding subsidiary Jiangsu Highstar Battery Manufacturing Co. Ltd. will build a new “digitalized” factory for the production of Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. The factory will have a production capacity of 1.3GWh per year. Pret said the total investment in this project is estimated to reach RMB 218 million, which will be funded through Highstar’s own capital and loans from financial institutions. This announcement was first picked up by other local Chinese news outlets.
The new factory will be located in Highstar’s own new energy industrial park located in China’s Jiangsu Province. Its Li-ion and Na-ion battery production lines will feature smart automation technologies. It should be noted that the additional 1.3GWh per year of production capacity appear to apply to both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. The construction of the factory will take about seven months.
Pret also stated this project follows Highstar’s “internal strategic restructuring” that was completed this August, along with a pivot towards specific new energy fields. With the restructuring and focus shift, Highstar as a listed company has drawn resources from the equity market to accelerate the development of its energy storage business. Furthermore, Highstar has secured numerous orders for its energy storage products, and its current production capacity is not sufficient to meet the rapidly growing demand for prismatic LFP batteries from its customers.
The new factory will support Highstar’s main battery manufacturing business and alleviate the supply crunch for prismatic LFP batteries. By continuously meeting the demand from customers in the downstream section of the energy storage industry chain, Highstar and Pret will be able to sustain their long-term growth. Pret in its announcement also noted that Highstar is preparing to build another digitalized factory with a much larger production capacity of 12GWh per year for prismatic Li-ion batteries. Hence, 1.3GWh project will serve to amass the experience for developing the 12GWh project. The first phase of the 12GWh project will involve setting up 6GWh per year of production capacity. To complement the scaling up of production capacity, Highstar is also in the process of improving the competitiveness of its products and expanding its sales efforts.
Established in 1992, Highstar has been developing and manufacturing various kinds of rechargeable batteries. The company offers Li-ion, nickel-metal hydride, and nickel-cadmium batteries. Its product portfolio encompasses solutions for a wide range of applications including e-bikes, power tools, NEVs, backup power supply, energy storage systems, railway-related equipment, household appliances, and even aviation-related hardware.