The Province of British Columbia is contributing $2 million through its Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) fund to establish a battery innovation centre at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO).
This cutting-edge facility will focus on research and development of new battery technologies, advancing B.C.’s battery supply-chain sector and growing the Okanagan region’s role as a battery and critical-mineral hub.
“The battery innovation centre is a monumental step forward for British Columbia’s clean-energy transition, demonstrating the quality, leading-edge work emerging from the sector,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.
“People and industry are increasingly relying on battery-powered devices for cellphones, electric vehicles, medical equipment and more. This project will see multiple benefits, opening up new research and development opportunities and creating quality jobs for British Columbians.”
The battery innovation centre will be the first of its kind in Western Canada, serving as a critical hub for testing and scaling up next-generation battery technologies that have the potential to offer increased energy density, higher safety, and lower-cost alternatives to lithium-ion batteries.
In addition, the centre will support regional economic development through the battery sector’s circular supply chain, incorporating battery recycling and metal processing in the Kootenay region, battery manufacturing in the Lower Mainland, and critical mineral mining throughout B.C.
Locally available materials, such as sulphur from mining and oil refineries, and tellurium recycled from smelting wastes, will be used to reduce the reliance on overseas critical minerals and support domestic production.
B.C.’s $2-million investment will go toward construction and equipment costs for a 2,000-square-foot pilot pouch cell facility within the battery innovation centre. The facility will produce commercial-scale pouch cells for use in medical devices and other applications.
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