Battery innovation centre coming to UBC Okanagan campus

Key Takeaways:

• B.C. is investing $2 million to establish a state-of-the-art battery innovation centre at UBC Okanagan, aimed at advancing battery technology and enhancing the province’s battery supply chain.
• The centre will be the first in Western Canada dedicated to testing and scaling up next-generation battery technologies, which promise improved energy density, safety, and cost-effectiveness.
• The centre will boost regional economic development by supporting a circular battery supply chain, utilizing locally available materials to reduce reliance on overseas minerals, and contributing to the clean-energy transition through the production of commercial-scale pouch cells.

The Whole Story:

B.C. is contributing $2 million through its Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) fund to establish a battery innovation centre at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO).

This cutting-edge facility will focus on research and development of new battery technologies, advancing B.C.’s battery supply-chain sector and growing the Okanagan region’s role as a battery and critical-mineral hub.

“The battery innovation centre is a monumental step forward for British Columbia’s clean-energy transition, demonstrating the quality, leading-edge work emerging from the sector,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “People and industry are increasingly relying on battery-powered devices for cellphones, electric vehicles, medical equipment and more. This project will see multiple benefits, opening up new research and development opportunities and creating quality jobs for British Columbians.”

The battery innovation centre will be the first of its kind in Western Canada, serving as a critical hub for testing and scaling up next-generation battery technologies that have the potential to offer increased energy density, higher safety, and lower-cost alternatives to lithium-ion batteries.

In addition, the centre will support regional economic development through the battery sector’s circular supply chain, incorporating battery recycling and metal processing in the Kootenay region, battery manufacturing in the Lower Mainland, and critical mineral mining throughout B.C. Locally available materials, such as sulphur from mining and oil refineries, and tellurium recycled from smelting wastes, will be used to reduce the reliance on overseas critical minerals and support domestic production.

“We are grateful to the government of B.C. for this significant investment in the Battery Innovation Centre,” said Lesley Cormack, principal, UBC Okanagan. “Effective energy storage is a critical element of a low-carbon energy future and the work of our research team has already improved Canada’s battery supply chain. This investment will elevate that work even further by providing the necessary space to create and test battery prototypes on a larger scale.”

B.C.’s $2-million investment will go toward construction and equipment costs for a 2,000-square-foot pilot pouch cell facility within the battery innovation centre. The facility will produce commercial-scale pouch cells for use in medical devices and other applications.