On March 17, 2021, An ‘Equal’ Joint Venture (JV) called ‘IOC Phinergy Private Limited’ of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) & Israeli firm ‘Phinergy ltd’ was formalised. Under the JV, both entities will also undertake research and development, assembly, manufacturing & sale of aluminium-air batteries for the Indian market.
- Objective – To manufacture Ultra-Lightweight Metal-air Batteries for Electric Vehicles (EVs) using Aluminium Air Batteries (Al-Air) technology & to boost the e-mobility.
- The partnership will help India in realizing ‘Atma Nirbhar’ for energy requirements.
- The JV also aims to develop fuel cells & Indigenous hydrogen storage solutions for promoting green mobility (with a focus on electric vehicles).
- Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Dr Yuval Steinitz, Minister of Energy, Israel were present during the launch.
First Customers
- Maruti Suzuki & Ashok Leyland signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the new JV ‘IOC Phinergy Private Limited’ for support & commercialization of its Al-Air Technology.
- Indian automobile firms Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland & Mahindra Electric will be part of the validation of the technology.
Use of Recyclable Aluminium
- The JV aims to replace Lithium with Aluminium to make batteries that will charge faster and give a longer run.
- Domestically available Recycled Aluminium will be used for the Project.
Background
- The collaboration was initiated during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in July 2017.
Benefits
- It will help in the decarbonization of mobility.
- It will help in the Faster adoption of e-vehicles in India.
- It will also help in addressing the challenges faced by customers of e-Vehicles such as Range anxiety, Higher cost of purchase & safety issues.
Recent Related News:
i.On November 20, 2020, IOCL notified that it successfully conducted a ‘Proof of Concept’ feasibility study on ‘zero-emission electric mobility at one of its fuel stations in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
About Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL):
Chairman – Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
Headquarters – New Delhi
About Phinergy:
CEO – David Mayer
Headquarters – Lod, Israel
