"The settlement of the battery specialist LION Smart makes another important contribution to the expansion of Thuringia's production and research capacities in the field of battery technology," says Thuringia's Minister of Economic Affairs Wolfgang Tiefensee. With the Chinese global market leader Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), Kedali Germany GmbH (KDL) and the mechatronics specialist Marquardt Group, significant companies in the industry are already active in the Free State; at the Battery Innovation and Technology Center (BITC), Fraunhofer IKTS is researching digitally supported battery production for sodium batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
The new investor in Hildburghausen belongs to the Swiss holding company LION E-Mobility AG. In his inauguration speech, Alessio Basteri, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the holding company, explicitly thanked the state of Thuringia. “We are grateful for the great support from the state and for access to financial funding opportunities. We are very happy today and will continue to invest here at the Hildburghausen site in the future.“ As supporters, Alessio Basteri explicitly named the LEG in addition to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Thuringian Development Bank. ““We accompanied LION Smart throughout the entire settlement process with our full service“, reported Dr. Arnulf Wulff, authorized officer and department head of the LEG. “The investment project closes a gap in the value chain for battery projects in the Free State.“ (hw)
