Siemens opens battery module factory

Germany’s Siemens group has opened an advanced robotized and digitized battery module factory in Trondheim, Norway. The new factory has eight robot stations and a capacity of up to 300MWh per year. It is capable of assembling 55 battery modules a day for the marine and offshore market. The factory is fully automated, with robots designed to do everything from unpacking the incoming production parts to testing the finished battery modules. “We expect the marine and offshore market to grow significantly in the future. That is why we have invested in the development of safe and reliable battery solutions,” says Bjørn Einar Brath, head of offshore solutions at Siemens. Trondheim was chosen as the factory’s location because of Norway’s pioneering role in electrification and Siemens Trondheim’s ongoing work on electrical solutions in ships and offshore applications. “In Trondheim, we have established a competence center for electrical and hybrid solutions with years of experience. This has impressed global management so much that we are now responsible for the development of new battery systems,” says Anne Marit Panengstuen, CEO of Siemens AS. The factory recently received its first order to assemble batteries for use on a drilling rig. West Mira, a drilling platform belonging to the international drilling company Northern Drilling, will be the first drilling rig in the world to be operated with a modern battery solution. For a drilling rig like this, it is estimated that a battery solution can reduce annual fuel consumption by 12%, annual carbon dioxide emissions by 15% and annual nitrogen oxide emissions by 12%.