Deakin welcomes Labor commitment to Geelong battery facility

Deakin University has announced that it welcomes the federal Labor Party’s pledge to, if elected, work with the university to support a battery manufacturing plant in Geelong, to help accelerate an electric vehicle future.

The election commitment, which includes $2 million for Deakin to establish a sodium-ion battery pilot facility, was announced by Labor’s Innovation, Industry, Science and Research spokesman Senator Kim Carr as part of a $57 million Electric Vehicle Manufacturing and Innovation Strategy package.

Deakin Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander AO said she was pleased the Labor Party, if elected, would support Australia’s move to a low carbon future through advanced manufacturing leadership, which the university has focused on through cutting-edge research and design.

“This new facility will build on the work of Deakin, which has invested significantly in developing improved energy storage, with our BatTRI-Hub centre led out of the world-leading Institute for Frontier Materials, along with current construction of a $30 million renewable energy microgrid set to power the university’s Waurn Ponds Campus,” Professor den Hollander said. “The emerging technology of sodium for use in batteries has the potential to offer safer and lower-cost battery technology for the kind of large-scale storage that will be required by the electric vehicle industry and for commercial and residential use into the future.

“This includes for the commercial vehicle industry, which could help to revolutionise the environmental impact of heavy vehicles.

“We are experiencing growing global need for research in innovative renewable energy systems, and the demands on energy networks are changing rapidly as technology and knowledge tries to keep up with the growing shift by industry, consumers and governments towards sustainable generation and distribution.

“It has never been more important for governments to support universities like Deakin to help drive the renewable energy revolution,” she continued.

“Deakin is passionate about supporting the communities we serve, working collaboratively with industry, businesses and governments to create and drive forward solutions to the challenges we all face, and together with companies like AusNet Services and the support of our political leaders, we can make a real difference to our future.”

Image: © stock.adobe.com/au/bizoo_n