- Sustainability and investment needs in battery and energy storage production
- Competitiveness in the European comparison
- Stringent implementation of the European Battery Regulation
This Wednesday, the local Bundestag candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Johannes Wiegelmann, together with Prof. Dr. Sven Simon, Member of the European Parliament, and Jonathan König, Chairman of the Büdingen CDU city association, visited the Exide Technologies plant in Büdingen, a leading provider of innovative and sustainable battery storage solutions for the automotive industry and industrial applications. Exide Technologies produces batteries and energy storage systems at eleven locations in Europe. The two German plants are located in Büdingen and Bad Lauterberg.
In times of an ongoing energy crisis, innovative technologies and sustainable solutions are more in demand than ever. At the company's site in Büdingen, the CDU delegation met with CEO Stefan Stübing and Managing Director & Plant Manager Gert Eifert, as well as Dr. Georg Meckl, Vice President Basic Research & Management Systems and Karsten Kurz, Director CSR & Governmental Relations. Among other topics, they discussed competitive location factors, particularly in view of the very high energy costs in Germany, the company's ambitious sustainability strategy, and the stringent implementation of the European Battery Regulation.
A key focus of the discussion with CEO Stefan Stübing and Managing Director & Plant Manager Gert Eifert was on the technologies developed on-site. The Büdingen Research and Development Center focuses on the development of maintenance-free gel batteries, supply batteries for trucks, buses, sweepers, train applications, and military vehicles as well as the development of lithium-ion charging technology. All production steps, from casting the plates to the final assembly of batteries and energy storage systems, are carried out at the plant. A typical gel battery takes around 12 days to complete.
For many years, the R&D team in Büdingen has been researching modern lithium-ion energy storage systems, which have also been occasionally manufactured and assembled at the Büdingen site. Exide Technologies is also represented on the European market with state-of-the-art lithium-ion storage systems. These large-scale storage systems are capable of storing energy from renewable sources and making it available when needed. At the same time, they are an important component in improving the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
After a brief tour of the plant, there was still enough time to discuss current topics of Europeanand regional significance, such as the energy transition towards a sustainable economy in Germany and Europe, the development of energy costs, particularly for energy-intensive industries, the shortage of skilled workers and the importance of the stringent implementation of the EU Battery Regulation. Everyone agreed that efforts to ensure competitiveness in Germany and Europe, as well as the implementation of an ambitious sustainability strategy, are a shared concern!
