TIDMGELN
RNS Number : 6679S
Gelion PLC
13 March 2023
13 March 2023
Gelion plc
("Gelion", "the Group" or the "Company")
Lithium sulfur IP acquired from University of Sydney and
selected for Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge
Gelion (AIM: GELN), the Anglo-Australian battery storage
innovator, is pleased to provide the following update:
Lithium Silicon Sulfur ("LiSiS")
Acquisition of intellectual property assets from the University
of Sydney
-- Following the recent acquisition of the IP portfolio from
Johnson Matthey announced on 9 March 2023, Gelion announces
the acquisition of intellectual property assets ("IP") in
relation to sulfur cathodes, electrolytes and additives from
the University of Sydney ("University"). The IP was previously
exclusively licenced to Gelion under a grant made by the University
in 2021 which provided Gelion with an option to acquire the
IP for A$130,000. Post the Johnson Matthey acquisition, Gelion
decided to use the option as we assess the strategic importance,
and the value of this IP is significantly higher given the
technological progression made by Gelion in the sulfur cathode
space creating a pathway of accelerated commercialisation.
This acquisition also includes future cooperation from the
University including all right, title and improvement made
by the University to the IP in the future.
-- This acquisition along with the Johnson Matthey IP portfolio
("Combined IP") provides Gelion with greater flexibility in
its Lithium Sulfur and Lithium Silicon Sulfur offerings, and
our objectives toward supporting graphitic and high silicon
as well as lithium metal anodes, improving overall lithium-ion
battery safety, increasing gravimetric energy density and
achieving lower costs. This acquisition reflects Gelion's
commitment to accelerated technology development along this
path.
-- Concurrently Gelion, in partnership with other major industry
participants, is exploring the potential to establish a pilot
scale manufacturing capability in the LiSiS space.
Selected in the Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge
-- Selected by Supercharge Australia to take part in the "Supercharge
Australia Innovation Challenge". This challenge supports lithium
battery innovation and aims to capture more value from the
lithium battery supply chain, as a potential lithium battery
gamechanger to enable next generation applications of e-aviation
and provide better battery performance and safety for electric
passenger cars, trucks and buses. Gelion aims to use the initiative
to extend visibility and understanding of the strength, relevance,
and ultimate potential of its LiSiS initiative and to help
further develop important connections inside the Australian
and Global supply chain.
Zinc Bromide
-- Completed the manufacturing of 1,200 zinc bromide gel-based
cells to be utilized in the Acciona trial and internal R&D.
These are being tested internally at Gelion's cell testing
program and utilised in an end-to-end system validation process
using the same infrastructure that will be used by Acciona.
The trial will begin on the successful completion of these
internal validation tests.
-- Developed and implemented a more sophisticated version of
our battery management system (BMS) for zinc-bromide batteries
(currently being used for internal testing), designed to allow
for high accuracy measurements.
-- Initiated development of software to manage multi-string systems
and provide reliable data for real-time data analysis.
-- Conducted a rigorous match to market exercise in respect of
its zinc bromide technology which has provided additional
insight into how the product can be further optimized to better
meet the needs of potential end customers. Based on outcomes
from the review Gelion will conduct research and refinement
of the zinc bromide technology toward delivering the identified
goals which we anticipate will take in the order of 12 months
before making any decision to scale production.
John Wood, Chief Executive of Gelion commented: "My first few
months as the CEO have confirmed my view that Gelion offers
exceptional technologies in a fast-moving and high-growth space.
Our focus is to refine and deliver these technologies into a
package that is suitable for our large target markets.
Building on the IP acquisition from Johnson Matthey, I am very
pleased with the acquisition of sulfur cathode IP from the
University of Sydney as we assess the value of this IP to now be
multiple times higher than initially anticipated.
Our match to market study in the zinc bromide area has produced
very useful data which we will use to further develop our
technology. Again, the end market is vast, but it is critical that
we deliver a compelling proposition to our customers with a robust
and proven product and follow a rigorous approach to ensure full
technology market readiness.
I am encouraged by the progress we have made over the last few
months and am confident in the plans we have, to deliver the best
performance building on Gelion's strong IP and team resources for
the benefit of our shareholders."
Acquisition of lithium sulfur IP
Gelion has acquired the University's lithium sulfur IP for a
total AUS$130,000 (plus GST), which will be satisfied by the issue
of 171,396 ordinary shares in Gelion plc (the "Consideration
Shares") at a price of 42.83 pence on 17 March 2023.
The University will transfer to Gelion plc the patents, the
technical information and any improvements in relation to sulfur
cathodes (including suitable additives and electrolytes), including
all of its right, title and interest in any improvement to date and
in the future, created by the University or its associates.
This acquisition converts Gelion's previously existing exclusive
licence with the University to use its Lithium Sulfur technology
within its additives business to create LiSiS batteries.
The Combined Portfolio has the potential to:
-- resolve the issue of sulfur management which is a critical
issue for Lithium Sulfur batteries;
-- eliminate the reliance on the maturity of Lithium Metal
anodes as the Lithium Sulfur cathodes developed by Gelion
are intended to be compatible with graphitic, silicon, and
lithium metal anodes; and
-- allow for the Lithium Sulfur technology to be commercialized
on accelerated paths.
In addition, the combined portfolio also provides Gelion
with:
-- a greater control over its usage and potential commercialisation
pathways;
-- an ability to tailor the IP to its specific needs and make
changes or modifications as needed; and
-- an option to licence the technology to other parties (should
it decide) which has particular value to Gelion given the
importance of the product and intense competition.
Gelion's Performance Additives division is focused on developing
sulfur cathodes which, when paired with existing lithium-ion and
lithium-ion silicon battery anode technologies, have the potential
to improve overall lithium-ion battery safety, increase energy
density and reduce cost, presenting a compelling commercial
proposition for a range of markets including electric vehicles,
e-aviation and drones.
As previously announced in December 2022, Gelion's half-cell
sulfur cathode technology has now reached 300 usage cycles at less
than 20% capacity degradation using conditions where testing
without the additive failed inside 100 cycles, a result that points
to the potential for Gelion's additives when paired with existing
lithium-ion and lithium-ion silicon battery technologies. Gelion is
accelerating its research in this area and is commencing the early
stages of full cell testing.
This IP acquisition will strengthen Gelion's overall offering in
the LiSiS market, enhance the Group's IP portfolio and accelerate
the Company's ability to develop products focused on the improved
performance of lithium-ion batteries.
Gelion, in partnership with other major industry participants,
is exploring the potential to establish a pilot scale manufacturing
capability in the LiSiS space.
Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge
Gelion has been selected to participate in the Supercharge
Australia Innovation Challenge. Supercharge Australia is a project
of the partnership between not-for-profit startup support
organisations New Energy Nexus globally and EnergyLab in Australia
and New Zealand. New Energy Nexus has offices in 11 countries and
is head-quartered in the US, and EnergyLab is the leading local
climate and clean energy tech startup support organisation, both
supporting clean energy entrepreneurs with funds, accelerators, and
networks.
A key purpose of Supercharge Australia is to bring the
Australian industry together to understand where innovation is
required and leverage New Energy Nexus' global expertise, including
its role in the US Department of Energy's Lithium Bridge project
combined with EnergyLab's leading Australian startup support
expertise to accelerate the development of a robust and secure
domestic supply chain for lithium-based batteries and associated
businesses.
Danny Kennedy, Chief Energy Officer New Energy Nexus commented:
"New Energy Nexus and our partners established the US Lithium
Bridge, a 600+ company ecosystem, to target US$33 billion in
lithium battery revenues and 100,000 new jobs by 2030. New Energy
Nexus and EnergyLab are bringing these learnings to Australia,
including developing a suite of startup support programs locally to
accelerate the build out of Australia's ecosystem with candidate
high impact, next generation technologies like Gelion's
lithium-silicon-sulfur battery development."
The global clean energy transition will be driven largely by
batteries and the Supercharge Australia initiative aims to position
Australia as a leader in lithium battery technology, from
extraction to advanced battery and EV manufacturing. While Gelion
is still in the development stages of its LiSiS development,
assuming success of the program, the technology has the potential
to achieve double the gravimetric energy density of current lithium
batteries, while achieving a lower cost and improving safety. It
was selected into the Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge as
a potential lithium battery gamechanger to enable next generation
applications of e-aviation and provide better battery performance
and safety for electric passenger cars, trucks and buses. Gelion
aims to use the initiative to extend visibility and understanding
of the strength, relevance, and ultimate potential of its LiSiS
initiative and to help further develop important connections inside
the Australian and global supply chain.
Zinc Bromide
-- Gelion has manufactured approximately 1,200 zinc bromide gel-based
cells to date (170 kWh). While these have been tested within
Gelion's own parameters they have not been tested under conditions
analogous to those within the Acciona ecosystem. Accordingly,
these cells are now being tested internally at Gelion's cell
testing program and utilised in an end-to-end system validation
process using similar infrastructure as Acciona would use.
The trial will begin on the successful completion of these
internal tests.
The Company has conducted a rigorous match to market exercise,
which has supported the positioning pre-empted in the December
update of adapting Gelion's:
-- Zinc technology toward applications currently dominated by
Lead-Acid batteries (intended applications include reserve
power for microgrids, telco tower battery systems and uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) batteries for data centres); and
-- Lithium Silicon Sulfur technology toward the family of lithium
dominated applications where the potential of the technology
to deliver higher gravimetric energy density, enhanced safety,
and lower cost is compelling.
Combining understanding of the performance needs from the lead
acid segments identified as most suitable to Gelion's technology
with learnings from the Company's early manufacturing and testing,
the business will now focus its Zinc technology development toward
a further round of research work to achieve certain defined goals
before committing further investment to scale production. This
research is expected to take place over the course of the next 12
months with a round of further testing and validation
thereafter.
Release of a full production battery cell design requires
significant time and investment, and the Board believes this
approach is both the most effective stewardship of the Company's
resources and the fastest path to successfully launch a new cell
chemistry. The Board will continue to keep shareholders informed as
this progresses.
Issue of Consideration Shares
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the
171,396 Consideration Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and
admission is expected to occur on or around 8.00am on 17 March 2023
("Admission"). The Consideration Shares will rank pari passu with
the existing ordinary shares in the capital of the Company
("Ordinary Shares").
Total Voting Rights
Following Admission, the issued share capital of the Company
will be 108,407,750 Ordinary Shares and this figure may be used by
shareholders as a denominator for the calculations by which they
will determine if they are required to notify their interest in or
change to their interest in the Company under the Disclosure
Guidance and Transparency Rules published by the UK Financial
Conduct Authority. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury
and each Ordinary Share entitled the holder to a single vote at
general meetings of the Company. Therefore, the total number of
voting rights in the Company will be 108,407,750.
CONTACTS
Gelion plc via Alma PR
John Wood, CEO
Amit Gupta, CFO
Thomas Maschmeyer, Founder and Principal
Technology Advisor
finnCap Ltd (Nominated Adviser and Sole
Broker) +44 207 220 0500
Corporate Finance
Christopher Raggett
Seamus Fricker
Fergus Sullivan
ECM
Barney Hayward
Alma PR (Financial PR Adviser) +44 20 3405 0205
Justine James gelion@almapr.co.uk
Josh Royston
Hannah Campbell
Will Ellis Hancock
About Gelion plc
Gelion ("gel: ion") is a global renewable-energy storage
innovator who supports the transition to a sustainable economy
while delivering value for its customers and investors by designing
and manufacturing the outstanding zinc-bromide batteries for
stationary energy storage and Lithium Sulfur and Lithium Silicon
Sulfur technologies for mobile battery applications.
Mobile storage - Tomorrow's transport systems will rely on
mobile renewable energy. Gelion is developing sulfur cathode,
electrolyte, and additive technologies with the aim of improving
the safety, longevity and energy density of lithium-based batteries
for mobile applications. Using nanotechnology, Gelion's
lithium-silicon-sulfur additives will help power the EV and
e-aviation markets.
Stationary storage - Gelion Endure: the sustainable energy
storage solution.
Gelion has developed patented technology for a breakthrough
zinc-bromide battery to support the transition to a carbon neutral
economy by 2050. The technology is being developed with the goal of
establishing Gelion Zinc Bromide as a logical participant in the
ecosystem of suppliers, manufacturers and customers surrounding
lead acid technology.
Gelion's zinc-bromide gel battery uses non-flow technology,
which is scalable, can deliver 100% depth of discharge and has
potential for higher temperature tolerance and longer duration
discharge than lead-acid batteries.
Gelion was spun-out from the University of Sydney in 2015 by
Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, Fellow of the Australian Academy of
Science and recipient of the Australian Prime Minister's Prize for
Innovation 2020, that country's highest honour for scientific
entrepreneurship.
The Company's ESG credentials are strongly aligned to six of the
UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Gelion's shares are listed on the AIM market of the London Stock
Exchange and it received the Green Economy Mark at IPO in November
2021 recognising its commitment to energy transition.
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March 13, 2023 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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