The Intellibat project

The Intellibat project is a joint initiative between Solithor, imec and Hasselt University and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).  Its aim is to reinforce the European Battery Chain and position Limburg and Flanders as principal regions in the European battery industry.

SOLiTHOR, the project lead, will invest in 25 state-of-the-art machines for solid-state lithium battery R&D, manufacturing and testing at its Centre of Excellence in Sint-Truiden.The work will include upscaling processes, building electrodes and the volume production and testing of pouch cells for clients and partners worldwide.

Imec which is located in EnergyVille (Genk) will invest in equipment for material coating and sensor integration with UHasselt at Diepenbeek investing in an X-ray diffractometer and glovebox for the research of solid-state battery ageing and performance.  All three parties have extensive and unique capabilities to tackle the challenges posed by the massive migration from fossil to electric-based mobility.

Investing in a mix of state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment covering the whole Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range for next-generation solid-state batteries will ensure a resilient European Battery Chain.

All aspects of the R&D are complementary to each other and will be available for joint research projects within the Intellibat consortium. In due course, as part of the project’s open infrastructure ambitions and subject to contracts, some of the equipment will be made available to external parties.