GREENVILLE, S.C., July 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Soteria Battery
Innovation Group and EIT InnoEnergy announce the formation of a
partnership to bring forward battery technology and safety
coursework to the industry. They have also formed a Battery Safety
Education Task Force to address the growing skills gap around safe
practices in lithium-ion batteries. All companies and
interested parties are invited to participate in this important
endeavor.
Soteria and InnoEnergy are supporting the
growing battery workforce by bringing critical training to the
industry.
By 2030, global demand for lithium-ion batteries will be 4.7
terawatt hours per year, including 13 new Gigafactories in
North America, creating up to
400,000 new battery jobs. Skilled workers from other industries are
moving into the battery industry with little or no knowledge of the
basic structure and function of battery chemistry, engineering and
practices. Lithium-ion batteries use highly reactive
chemicals to store a large amount of energy in a small package.
When handled properly, they are very safe and an integral part of
our daily lives in our cellphones, laptops, power tools and
electric vehicles. In those devices, the batteries are held in
protective packaging and controlled by small computers, called
battery management systems, that keep them safely in their designed
operating parameters.
Industry workers, however, will be handling the batteries
outside the context of this protective environment. When
handled with proper procedures, they are still very safe to work
around. However, a worker who is not knowledgeable of the
proper procedures to handle lithium-ion batteries might by their
shape and size mistakenly conclude that they can be handled in the
same ways as alkaline AAA, AA, C or D batteries. They cannot,
and when handled improperly, the batteries can release their energy
and chemicals in explosive reactions that can cause large building
fires and pose health risks from the release of chemicals.
"Filling this knowledge gap is critical," said Dr. Brian Morin, co-Founder and CEO of Soteria
Battery Innovation Group. "Highly skilled engineers and technicians
without the proper training can inadvertently cause a serious risk
to their environment, co-workers and neighboring communities
through improper handling of lithium-ion batteries. Providing
training is a critical part of the energy transition,
and Soteria is honored to partner with the InnoEnergy Skills
Institute to bring forward this critical training and make it
available to workers throughout the
United States and the world."
Oana Penu Director of InnoEnergy Skills Institute continued: "In
order to address the widening skills gap in the face of the energy
transition, companies are rapidly expanding their workforces,
increasing the potential risk of accidents and hazards and injury.
Through our partnership with Soteria, we aim to marry innovation
and safety in all we do, leading the conversation on the need for
industry-driven safety education standards to benefit workers,
consumers and the world at large."
Soteria is now offering twenty-four self-paced online courses
from InnoEnergy that cover a variety of topics, fundamentals of
batteries, to battery testing, to battery management systems, and
more. This content includes an introduction to battery safety, that
the Battery Safety Education Task Force will develop on top of.
After conducting surveys to identify training needs, the group will
create a strategic roadmap for content creation targeting specific
learning objectives. Then subject matter experts and lab providers
will be recruited to build the curricula, which is expected to
include hand-on training, focusing on accessible content for
industry professionals, production workers and first responders,
among others.
Soteria and InnoEnergy are calling on all companies and
institutions interested in advancing battery education to take
these training courses (https://soteriabig.com/battery-courses/)
and join the Battery Safety Education Task Force to help provide
the knowledge and educational materials necessary to fill this
skills gap and accelerate the energy transition. Reach out to
Amy Brinson at Amy.Brinson@soteriabig.com to find out more
about how to get involved.
About InnoEnergy
EIT InnoEnergy operates at the center of the energy
transition and is the leading innovation engine in
sustainable energy. It brings
the technology, business
model innovation and skills required
to accelerate the green deal, progress towards Europe's decarbonization and
re-industrialization goals, whilst also improving energy security.
The InnoEnergy Skills Institute is led by EIT InnoEnergy, the
innovation engine for sustainable energy, supported by the European
Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the
European Union (EU). Since its inception in 2010, InnoEnergy has
screened more than 7,000 start-ups,
launched more than 300 products
to market and overseen its portfolio companies filing 370+ patents.
Today, InnoEnergy has a trusted ecosystem of 1200+
partners and 35 shareholders and a
200+ strong team with offices
across Europe and in Boston,
US. www.innoenergy.com
About Soteria Battery Innovation Group, Inc.
Soteria is a lithium-ion battery safety platform that includes
both a technology to eliminate battery fires and Consortium to
promote best practices for lithium ion battery safety. Soteria's
patented technology eliminates the root cause of thermal runaway by
forming a fuse around internal short circuits and allowing cells to
continue to function. Soteria's mission is to have inherently safe
batteries everywhere, which Soteria believes will take a wholistic
approach to safety, combining complementary safety technologies
from many companies and strategies. Soteria's Consortium has over
120 members including NASA, Mercedes, DuPont, Motorola, Lenovo and
more. Soteria was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in
Greenville, SC. For more
information, please visit www.soteriabig.com.
Follow Soteria BIG
LinkedIn | YouTube | Twitter
Contact:
Amy Brinson
Amy.Brinson@Soteriabig.com
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SOURCE Soteria Battery Innovation Group