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With the Battery Production Days, the organizers of the successful Electric Vehicle Production Days are setting a new focus: battery production. For the first time, the Campus Forum, the PEM Chair at RWTH Aachen University, and Fraunhofer FFB invite visitors to #BatteryCityMünster on October 21 and 22, 2025. The focus will be on the key technology of batteries. You can look forward to an exciting exhibition and a top-class conference with sessions on topics such as "Innovations in the manufacturing process", "Scaled battery cell production" and "Quality assurance and modern factory planning".

Fraunhofer FFB has developed solutions for the planning of future battery factories together with the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) at RWTH Aachen University and ten industrial partners from Germany and abroad. As part of an international consortium study, strategies have been developed to help overcome currently known challenges in the design of new gigafactories.

Fraunhofer FFB and Kerkhoff, part of Interpath have formed a strategic alliance to support companies in the cost-optimized procurement of battery cells. The core of the cooperation is a jointly developed cost modeling system that brings transparency to complex price structures. The alliance offers industrial customers systematic preparation and implementation of demanding supplier negotiations and provides concrete solutions for maximum efficiency at the lowest cost in development and planning processes for products and production.

Fraunhofer FFB will be exhibiting for the first time this year with its booth at Battery Show Europe, the largest trade fair and conference for advanced battery manufacturing and technology. From June 3 to 5, 2025, visitors in Stuttgart will have the opportunity to learn all about the latest developments in plant engineering, sustainable battery technologies, and the industrialization of innovative product and production processes.

The European large-scale research initiative BATTERY 2030+ invites you to the fifth annual conference in Münster - and Fraunhofer FFB is part of the program as host of the site visit! From May 5 to 7, 2025, the European battery community will meet to work together on the batteries of the future.

The construction of the “FFB Fab” marks the beginning of the second construction phase of the large-scale research facility in Münster-Amelsbüren. Modern production and research facilities covering an area of 20,000 square meters will be created, enabling industry-oriented production research and development in the gigawatt range. Completion of the construction phase is scheduled for the end of 2027. At the same time, the research operations are being set up in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The development of the research production facility for battery cells (FFB) as a central element of a technologically advanced and competitive battery value chain in Germany and Europe is thus entering its final phase.

Digital solutions for battery cell production play an important role in increasing efficiency and ensuring quality in production. The Fraunhofer FFB has started the three-year “TRAICELL” project with several partners from research and industry. The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is concerned with the traceability of crucial data and with artificial intelligence to optimize battery cell production.

A comprehensive energy and mobility transition requires innovative, technology-driven solutions along the entire value chain of batteries and battery technologies. The 17th edition of the international conference "Kraftwerk Batterie – Advanced Battery Power", taking place from April 2 to April 3, 2025, in Aachen, will provide new insights into these developments. As an English-language networking platform, the conference at the Eurogress Congress Center brings together experts from research, development, and application, offering cross-industry insights into the latest advancements and innovations.

The efficient and scalable production of battery cells and packs plays a crucial role in the future of e-mobility. Together with eight partner companies, the Fraunhofer FFB is presenting innovative solutions for industrial battery cell and pack production at the world's largest industrial trade fair (March 31 to April 4, 2025, Hall 6, Booth D62). A model manufacturing process will demonstrate how robot-assisted technologies can optimize production.

The research project “HoWaLIB” with the participation of four project partners from industry and research develops a process for the targeted surface modification of electrodes based on roll structuring. This scaled technology enables higher-performance battery storage while retaining the same amount of active material. Thus, it supports the conservation of valuable resources and contributes to a more sustainable and cost-effective mass production of lithium-ion batteries as well as to the strengthening of the European competitiveness in the battery sector.

Electrode-drying using the roll-to-roll process (R2R) has been one of the most cost- and CO2-intensive manufacturing steps in the production of lithium-ion batteries to date. A laser-assisted R2R drying process, which was developed as part of the IDEEL research cooperation, could change this in the future. It combines conventional, oven-based convection drying with laser drying based on high-power diode lasers and reduces the drying time by over 60 percent while maintaining the same quality of results.

Producing batteries for electric cars requires a complex and globally networked supply chain. In a recent study, researchers from Fraunhofer FFB and the University of Münster analyzed the ownership structures and geopolitical dependencies along this supply chain. The result: China controls almost the entire value chain of lithium-ion batteries - from the extraction of raw materials to the production of the batteries. The People's Republic not only controls domestic production facilities but also those abroad - for all raw materials and downstream processes. No other region globally has comparable control along the entire battery supply chain.

In the ‘SkaleD’ project, five research partners from industry and research are further developing a process that directly coats electrodes in industrial battery cell production. This will reduce the costs and resources used in the mass production of lithium iron phosphate cells, replace solvent-intensive processes, and create the conditions for a sustainable energy transition as well as for European competitiveness in relation to Asian markets.

For the operation of the first research factory, the “FFB PreFab”, the Fraunhofer FFB has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the "Stadtwerke Münster". Starting November 1, 2025, the municipal utility company will supply 6.36 gigawatt hours of regional green electricity annually via a direct connection to the Fraunhofer FFB. The electricity will come from the first agri-photovoltaic system in Münster, which is being built southwest of the Amelsbüren district in Hartmannsbrock Street.

As the year draws to a close, we look back on a period full of dynamism, innovation and growth. It is a moment to pause and reflect on the progress we have made together. On behalf of the entire Fraunhofer FFB, we wish you a happy and relaxing festive season and a happy new year!

Up to 200 players from research and industry are expected to attend the 2024 “Week of Electric Mobility” from October 21st to 25th and the 12th edition of the “Electric Vehicle Production Days” (EPT) on October 23rd and 24th in Aachen to discuss challenges and trends in the field of batteries, fuel cells and hydrogen technologies, as well as electric motors. At the event, organized by the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production (FFB), the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University and the Campus Forum, around 80 companies will present innovations in eight themed sessions and at an accompanying exhibition.

The ramp-up phase of a gigafactory for the production of battery cells, modules and packs for electromobility and other applications is crucial to its subsequent success. In the jointly published white paper “Mastering Ramp-up of Battery Production”, Fraunhofer FFB and the Chair of “Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components« (PEM) at the RWTH Aachen University provide information on strategies and resources for an efficient and successful ramp-up of a gigafactory.

To recover phosphate from existing sources such as wastewater or farm manure and reuse it in lithium-ion batteries, MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Münster initiated the project SuSyPhos (short for: Sustainable Synthesis and Recycling of Phosphorus-containing Materials in Lithium-Ion Batteries). Together with the FH Münster ─ University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB, the Institute for Business Administration at the University of Münster and BeTeBe GmbH, the Münster-based research institute will be investigating the entire supply chain of the raw material over the next three years. The project covers the recycling of the phosphate, its processing and its use in batteries. It is being funded with around 2.5 million euros as part of the innovation competition “GreenEconomy.IN.NRW”. The Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Regional Development Fund provide equal amounts of funding.