Posted on 21 Nov 2024
Malaysia-headquartered Graphjet Technology has started operations at its first commercial-scale “green graphite” facility in Malaysia’s Subang district, Kallanish learns.
Graphjet, which focuses on carbon-based materials, produces battery-grade graphite by recycling palm kernel shells – an abundant agricultural waste by-product in the country. The over 91,000-square-foot facility is the world’s first commercial-scale green graphite plant, the company said Tuesday.
The facility can produce 3,000 tonnes/year of battery-grade graphite, which the company says could power around 40,000 EVs annually. It will also produce hard carbon to provide feedstock to Graphjet’s planned green graphite facility in Nevada, US. The Nevada plant is expected to produce 10,000 t/y of graphite, with first production targeted in 2026.
The company says it has received the first shipment of palm kernel shells, and begun shipping green graphite product samples to its customers.
“The Graphjet team has achieved a monumental step towards the execution of our strategy and vision to become a reliable supplier of green graphite globally,” comments Aiden Lee, ceo and co-founder of Graphjet. “With this facility online, Graphjet is now the primary player in green graphite production outside of China, as the company has the largest production capacity ex-China.”
With the facility’s commissioning, Graphjet expects to generate revenue by FY 2025, the executive adds.
The company claims its technology is “sustainable and cost-effective” and has the “lowest” carbon footprint of any graphite production process in the world. For every kilogram of graphite produced, Graphjet produces 2.95 kg of CO2 emissions, compared to 16.8 kg of CO2 emissions from producing natural graphite, and 17 kg of CO2 emissions from synthetic graphite production in China, it says.
Several companies are involved in producing graphite from biomass, in a bid to address the supply chain and sustainability challenges of mined or synthetic graphite production. This includes CarbonScape, which has a pilot plant in New Zealand that produces graphite from “sustainable” biomass, such as woodchip. It is planning a new demo plant in Finland, at a site owned by Stora Enso, a Finnish firm developing bio-based anodes.
Source:Kallanish
