Accenture to support new lithium-ion gigafactory in Geelong

Lithium-ion battery production company Recharge Industries has tapped Accenture for support on a large-scale project in Geelong, which aims to generate up to 30 GWh in annual capacity.

Professional services giant Accenture has been hired to provide engineering support on the construction of a $300 million lithium-ion battery cell production facility slated for Geelong, which upon completion is projected to generate up to 30 gigawatt hours (GWh) of annual storage capacity geared toward the electric vehicle and stationary energy storage markets.

At present, the new factory would rank as one the world’s largest such gigafactories for lithium-ion battery cell production.

Developer Recharge Industries, a New York and Geelong-based start-up founded by former PwC partner David Collard, expects construction on the facility to commence sometime later this year, with the hope of achieving annual battery production equivalent to 2 GWh in the second half of 2024.

The company then aims to expand that output to 6 GWh by 2026, before pushing toward a projected full capacity of 30 GWh per year.

At that point, Recharge says, the Victorian site will provide direct employment to between 1,500 and 2,000 workers, while helping to secure supply chains and meet the nation’s evolving energy needs. “Establishing a sovereign manufacturing capability to produce state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery cells is critical to Australia’s renewable energy economy,” said CEO Rob Fitzpatrick, a management consulting alumnus of McKinsey & Company.

Launched in 2021, the project will now move into the detailed engineering phase with the support of Accenture, with the consultancy to provide a range of services to establish the foundations for construction. According to their agreement, Accenture will advise on the facility layout, assist in procuring the required equipment and conduct final testing, and provide ongoing process and engineering support to improve battery production.

“Companies, economies and nations must speed their energy transition, a task hampered by ongoing disruptions in the global supply chains,” said Accenture Industry X practice manging director Soeren Schrader. “Recharge Industries’ advanced manufacturing facility in Geelong will go a long way in helping the Australian industry tackle these challenges. This project is a testament to our deep engineering and industry expertise.”

While Australia is the world’s largest supplier of the lithium critical in modern battery manufacture, the majority of the country’s raw materials are exported and converted into components abroad, particularly in China – a supply disadvantage the project hopes to address.

Australia is the Saudi Arabia of the new energy age,” Collard concludes in an interview with the AFR. “We have all the key critical minerals to power the next 100 years.”