PRESS RELEASE: In Spring 2018, Corvus Energy revealed the plans for a new fully automated factory for maritime batteries in Bergen, Norway. We are proud to announce that contracts for the factory location and the production equipment were finalized and signed this week. The new factory will be located at Midtun in Bergen, about a mile south of the city center. The supplier chosen for the production equipment is Intek Engineering AS of Raufoss, Norway and the factory will be fully operational in Q3 2019.
Geir Bjørkeli, CEO of Corvus Energy, has clear goals for the company: “With the expected growth in the market, flexibility and increased capacity are crucial to keep our position as the leading and innovative supplier of zero emissions solutions.”
The total investment is approximately 80 MNOK ($US 9.3M) financed through equity funding and loans from DNB and Innovation Norway. Bjørkeli says the Bergen location was selected for three reasons: “First, feedback from customers stating the importance of being close to the market; second, co-location as Corvus Energy already has its European operation located in Bergen; and third, to contribute to the global-leading maritime cluster in Bergen. By being innovative, using digital and automated solutions, we establish and maintain cost-efficient production. Instead of outsourcing production to other countries, we add value to the maritime industry and build competence locally.”
The automated production was developed through a concept study conducted with Sintef Manufacturing and will enable increased flexibility and scalability in addition to series production and implemention of new products. “State-of-the-art production equipment in combination with digitalization and innovative production techniques makes this a unique solution with a total capacity of 400 MWh. We chose Intek Engineering AS from Raufoss to supply the equipment due to their extensive expertise and track record with automated production lines,” says Gisle Frydenlund, EVP Operations and Projects at Corvus Energy.
“Intek are proud and honored to be chosen as a partner for building the new battery factory for Corvus. We are looking forward to the cooperation with such a future-oriented and ambitious company as Corvus Energy. Together we will design and build a highly flexible and state-of-the-art system for production of sustainable and green energy storage for the maritime sector,” states Sølvar Flatmo, Chief Strategy Officer at Intek Engineering AS.
The existing factory in Canada is also being upgraded with a semi-automated production line to increase capacity. All in all, Corvus Energy will increase production capacity eight-fold.
