The numbers are mind-boggling. According to the IEA Global EV Outlook which examines regional targets and current vehicle statistics, at least 235 to 300 million electric vehicles (EVs) will need to be produced to meet the combined electrification goals of the EU and the United States by 2035.
Where will all the batteries come from to meet these needs?
An emerging leader
There are a number of technological, environmental, economic, and social dimensions that impact the production of batteries for EVs and transportation systems.
The scarcity of key resources like lithium and the energy-intensive extraction processes that are required, the costs and complexity of the existing manufacturing and supply chain processes, and the current limited lifespan of batteries and the status of recycling and end-of-life management are all challenges that impact the production of batteries. These are all challenges that battery manufacturers need to consider.
One company that is changing the game is FREYR Battery, a clean energy solutions provider and emerging leader in sustainable lithium-ion batteries.
FREYR is helping build clean energy capacity in the United States with its Giga America battery plant for industrial-scale battery component production and has plans to develop its Giga Arctic site in Norway. Its mission is to produce environmentally friendly battery cells through a business model that maximizes long-term value creation and unlocks sustainable, superior returns for its stakeholders.
FREYR develops battery solutions for stationary energy storage, which are crucial for integrating renewable energy sources into the grid and ensuring energy stability. It also provides battery solutions for electric buses, trucks, and marine vessels.
The company is actively involved in the development and production of next-generation battery cell technologies. By leveraging advanced manufacturing processes and sustainable practices, the company aims to produce battery cells with higher energy density, longer lifespan, and reduced environmental impact. And with its recent acquisition of Trina Solar’s U.S. manufacturing assets, FREYR is now enabling the integration of solar energy solutions with its battery storage technology to offer comprehensive clean energy systems.
Charging forward in the cloud
As a new company, FREYR Battery needed a robust and scalable technology foundation to support its plans. To help achieve its ambitions, FREYR chose SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition as part of the GROW with SAP for scaleups program.
“We wanted to stick to best practices and take advantage of predefined proven processes from the very start. That’s why we invested in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition,” said Morten Grimsø, head of controlling/IT and administration at FREYR Battery. The end goal is to accelerate growth without increasing complexity.
FREYR was able to rapidly implement its finance foundation with capabilities for warehousing, maintenance, and production processes to serve its industrial-scale clean battery cell production. The company now has access to data across its manufacturing processes, giving its people rich insights to help it continuously improve its operations and its solutions in line with its sustainability goals.
As a startup company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the biggest challenge is making the right decisions at the right time, proceeding step by step. According to Grimsø, if you start with best practices that are contained and visualized in the SAP Signavio solution that’s part of the package, it’s easy to achieve a configured system. The tool enabled the company to look at processes and understand the order in which to implement them as dictated by the business. This approach made it easy to sit down with the operators to clarify how to operate the system.
“Our operations team has benefited from the speed of the implementation. As a startup, we knew that having standardized processes from the beginning was an advantage,” he explained. “We wanted to avoid designing everything from scratch and having to go through a business engineering process to roll it out. With a set of best practices to follow, our operations can be compliant from the get-go.”
Embedding advanced ERP speedily into an organization can be the source of significant commercial advantage for a startup. It allows the company to turn on core functionality at the right time to meet requirements and then adopt more functionality organically as its needs grow.
For FREYR, this robust and scalable architecture means meeting strategic goals more quickly. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition allows the company to bring new plants online quickly and add new functionality with ease during times of critical development. The solution is already supporting its financial and procurement operations and joint-venture initiatives in the United States ahead of commencing manufacturing activities.
Thanks to its strong technology foundation, FREYR is well positioned to provide sustainably produced battery solutions to substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030. Its clean, next-generation battery cells will go a long way in helping regional entities accelerate the decarbonization of energy and transportation systems.
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