Company News

Leclanché welcomes the EU’s plans to make battery development and production central to Europe’s energy strategy

Fri Oct 13

YVERDON LES BAINS, Switzerland, 13th October 2017: Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN), one of the world’s leading energy storage solution companies, welcomes the European Union’s plans to make battery storage central to Europe’s energy infrastructure.

At the initiative of European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, in charge of Energy Union, a high-level meeting on Battery development and production in Europe took place on Wednesday 11th October in Brussels. This meeting regrouped the leading actors from the EU industry and member states to discuss the establishment of a full value chain of batteries in Europe, importantly including large-scale Lithium ion battery cell production. It was recognized that the large-scale manufacturing of Lithium ion cells with highest possible control of IP is crucial for EU economy and job creation for the future. There was a clear sense of urgency by all parties which included industrial leaders from automotive OEMs, Chemical companies, Energy companies and cell manufacturing companies.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, and Pierre Blanc, the company’s CTIO, were amongst the invited participants at the meeting in Brussels yesterday. With its industrial scale manufacturing site in Germany, and its development centers in Switzerland and Belgium, Leclanché is one of the largest manufacturers of Lithium ion cells in Europe, and has one of the strongest industrial basis.

A clear conclusion of the meeting was to form work strands in order to prepare a concrete roadmap by February 2018, that could set the path to a strong European based consortium, in many ways inspired by what was achieved 50 years ago in the aerospace sector.
Leclanché welcomes the initiative led by Vice-President Šefčovič, and is excited to be part of this process that should enable Europe to regain a strong position in the battery industry, which will be key in the ongoing transition to clean mobility and clean energy systems. Lithium ion cell production is central to the achievement of these goals and Leclanché is one of the very few players in Europe with industrial scale Lithium ion cell manufacturing experience.

EU funding will be made available, possibly through IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest), and the group will develop an EU-wide action roadmap over the coming months. Work on this is to start immediately, with Industrial participants to take the lead.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, said: “Battery technology is vital to the future security of Europe’s energy supply and the initiative of Vice-President Šefčovič will help create the right momentum and sends a clear signal as to its importance. Leclanché has been investing heavily over the past few years in building the required industrial foundations to be in a position to play an important role in this ambitious plan, and we are delighted to see such a strong and clear position taken by the European Commission. Leclanché, as one of the oldest battery companies in Europe, and with its strong industrial experience, aims to play a key role in this process, as it continues to build its presence in North America, Asia and further re-enforces its existing European activities.”

About Leclanché

Headquartered in Switzerland, Leclanché SA is a leading provider of high-quality energy storage solutions designed to accelerate our progress towards a clean energy future. Leclanché’s history and heritage is rooted in over 100 years of battery and energy storage innovation and the Company is a trusted provider of energy storage solutions globally. This coupled with the Company’s culture of German engineering and Swiss precision and quality, continues to make Leclanché the partner of choice for both disruptors, established companies and governments who are pioneering positive changes in how energy is produced, distributed and consumed around the world. The energy transition is being driven primarily by changes in the management of our electricity networks and the electrification of transport, and these two end markets form the backbone of our strategy and business model. Leclanché is at the heart of the convergence of the electrification of transport and the changes in the distribution network. Leclanché is the only listed pure play energy storage company in the world, organised along three business units: stationary storage solutions, e-Transport solutions and specialty batteries systems. Leclanché is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX: LECN).

SIX Swiss Exchange: ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9

Disclaimer

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to Leclanché’s business, which can be identified by terminology such as “strategic”, “proposes”, “to introduce”, “will”, “planned”, “expected”, “commitment”, “expects”, “set”, “preparing”, “plans”, “estimates”, “aims”, “would”, “potential”, “awaiting”, “estimated”, “proposal”, or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of Leclanché’s production capacity, potential applications for existing products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or potential future sales or earnings of Leclanché or any of its business units. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Leclanché regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that Leclanché’s products will achieve any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that Leclanché, or any of the business units, will achieve any particular financial results.

 

Contacts Leclanché

 

Media Switzerland /Europe:

Thierry Meyer

T: +41 (0) 79 785 35 81

E-mail: tme@dynamicsgroup.ch

 

Media North America:

Henry Feintuch / Ashley Blas

T: +1-914-548-6924 / +1-509-494-4053

E-mail: leclanche@feintuchpr.com  

 

Media Germany:

Christoph Miller

T: +49 (0) 711 947 670

E-mail: leclanche@sympra.de

 

Investor Contacts:

Anil Srivastava / Hubert Angleys

T: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00

E-mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com