Accenture's scope of work includes advisory on the facility layout, including utility planning and the production lines set-up, assistance in procuring and shipping the required equipment, carrying out final tests of all line equipment, and ongoing process and product engineering support to improve battery production

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Recharge Industries engages Accenture to design and engineer its gigafactory in Australia. (Credit: Recharge Industries)

Scale Facilitation portfolio company Recharge Industries has engaged Accenture to help it advance the development of its lithium-ion battery cell production facility in Victoria, Australia.

Accenture as the engineering provider will support the company to design and engineer the gigafactory.

Its scope of work under the framework contract includes advisory on the facility layout. This includes utility planning and setting up the production lines.

Besides, the technology company will provide assistance in procuring and shipping the necessary equipment, carrying out final tests of all line equipment along with ongoing process and product engineering support to enhance battery production.

To be located in Geelong, the battery manufacturing plant is expected to produce up to 30GWh of storage capacity annually for electric vehicles (EV) and stationary energy storage markets.

The construction of the facility is anticipated to commence in the latter half of this year.

Accenture Industry X managing director Soeren Schrader said: “Companies, economies and nations must speed their energy transition, a task hampered by ongoing disruptions in the global supply chains.

“Recharge Industries advanced manufacturing facility in Geelong will go a long way in helping the Australian industry tackle these challenges. This project is a testament to our deep engineering and industry expertise.”

Upon commencing the operations, the battery plant is anticipated to produce batteries equivalent to 2GWh per year in the second half of 2024 and 6GWh by 2026.

Once the operations expand to 100% capacity, the gigafactory is expected to employ approximately 1,500 to 2,000 workers directly.

With binding off-take contracts and funding secured, Recharge Industries has procured the production equipment for the first 2GWh production line.

Both companies are anticipated to collaborate with Charge CCCV (C4V) to expedite planning, engineering, and construction.

Charge CCCV provides intellectual property (IP), supply chain, blueprints, and technology concepts for battery production.

Recharge Industries CEO Rob Fitzpatrick said: “Establishing a sovereign manufacturing capability to produce state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery cells is critical to Australia’s renewable energy economy – meeting national demand, generating export income and securing supply chains.

“Our factory, which we are building with the assistance of Accenture’s engineering and capital projects expertise and underpinned by C4V’s IP and battery technology, will create thousands of jobs and attract large-scale investment from key players in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and other parts of the world.”