Leclanché SA: THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF A RESEARCH & PRODUCTION FACILITY FOR INDUSTRIAL SCALE LITHIUM-ION CELL MANUFACTURING Donnerstag, 24. Januar 2019 - 07:26

Leclanché SA / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
Leclanché SA: THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF A RESEARCH &
PRODUCTION FACILITY FOR INDUSTRIAL SCALE LITHIUM-ION CELL MANUFACTURING

24-Jan-2019 / 07:25 CET/CEST
Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 KR
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF A RESEARCH & PRODUCTION
FACILITY FOR INDUSTRIAL SCALE LITHIUM-ION CELL MANUFACTURING

LECLANCHE SIGNS MOU WITH LEADING GERMAN CELL MANUFACTURERS TO SUPPORT THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FACILITY

YVERDON LES BAINS, Switzerland, 24 January 2019: Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN),
one of the world's leading energy storage solutions companies, today
announced that it is to participate in the industrial Consortium which will
support and operate a Battery Cell Research Production Centre, a new
research and large-scale industrial manufacturing plant for lithium-ion
cells, based in Germany.

The Battery Cell Research Production Centre is an initiative launched by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) [1] and will
receive an investment of 500 million EUROS. It is part of a strategic drive
to develop a German-based mass production of lithium-ion cells necessary to
meet the demands of the electrification of transport and storage systems.

As the largest cell manufactuer within the Consortium, with world leading
in-house technologies from electrochemistry to energy management systems
software, Leclanché will be playing a leading role by bringing industrial
scale cell manufacturing know-how. The Consortium's objectives with the
facility are to ensure it acts as an enabler for the development of mass
industrial production based on state-of-the-art cell chemistry and cell
design.

Other participating companies include BMZ Group/ Terra E, Customcells, EAS
and Liacon.

The project is a significant win for the German Ministry of Education and
Research, Germany, and for Europe at large who need the participation of
leading lithium-ion players to build a European-based industry capable of
minimising dependence on Asian battery manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Leclanché announced in December 2018 that it would triple current
factory capacity to over 3 million cells per year, or 1 GWh per year by
2020. The production of its proprietary cells, Lithium Titanate Oxide (LT))
and Lithium Graphite/NMC, is based in Willstätt, Germany which is currently
the largest lithium ion pouch cell production facility in Europe operating
since 2012 with a capacity of over 1 million cells. The ramp-up of cell
production comes on the back of significant orders in the etransport sector
including e-buses, 2-3 wheelers, and electric vehicles in India and Europe,
and major breakthroughs in the marine sector with orders exceeding 45 MWh.
Leclanché recently achieved the important milestone of 100 MWh of projects
around the world.

* * * * *


About the participating companies and other members of the Consortium:

BMZ Group/Terra E
The BMZ Group is a global player in the production of lithium ion system
solutions. The group is headquartered in Germany and has production
facilities in China, Poland and the USA as well as subsidiaries in Japan and
France. In addition, there are research and development locations worldwide.
Around 3,000 employees work for the BMZ Group worldwide.

Customcells
Customcells is a worldwide operating high-tech company with approx. 40
employees. We develop and produce battery electrodes, lithium-ion battery
cells and energy storage systems under the slogan "Special applications are
our standard". More than 450 customers in more than thirty countries rely on
Customcell's technology, which includes renowned technology leaders in
electromobility and other industries (e.g. oil and gas industry, chemical
industry and industry-related research institutes). Our company sees itself
as a first movers in the megatrend "energy storage". Technology development,
cell design and production are carried out on a small and medium scale.
Customcells is growing strongly with production facilities in
Schleswig-Holstein and expansion plans in southern Germany.

EAS Batteries
EAS Batteries GmbH has been producing large-format lithium-ion cells and
lithium-ion batteries at its Nordhausen site for more than 20 years with
approx. 40 employees. The EAS technology is characterized by above-average
power densities and is mainly used in hybrid electrical applications. The
high safety and performance of the EAS systems are particularly sought after
in the fields of shipping, construction machinery, rail vehicles and mining
vehicles as well as in the aerospace industry. Since 2017, EAS Batteries has
been part of the MONBAT Group, the third largest battery manufacturer in the
world.

Liacon GmbH
Liacon GmbH is currently setting up a lithium-ion cell production facility
near Dresden, in Ottendorf-Okrilla, with a production capacity of up to 300
MWh per year. Production will start in the first half of 2019. In addition,
the company maintains a research and development group in Itzehoe. The
company currently employs approximately 40 people at both sites.

About Leclanché
Headquartered in Switzerland, Leclanché SA is a leading provider of high
quality energy storage solutions designed to accelerate our progress towards
a clean energy future.

Leclanché's history and heritage is rooted in over 100 years of battery and
energy storage innovation and the Company is a trusted provider of energy
storage solutions globally. This coupled with the Company's culture of
German engineering and Swiss precision and quality, continues to make
Leclanché the partner of choice for both disruptors, established companies
and governments who are pioneering positive changes in how energy is
produced, distributed and consumed around the world.

The energy transition is being driven primarily by changes in the management
of our electricity networks and the electrification of transport, and these
two end markets form the backbone of our strategy and business model.
Leclanché is at the heart of the convergence of the electrification of
transport and the changes in the distribution network. Leclanché is the only
listed pure play energy storage company in the world, organised along three
business units: stationary storage solutions, etransport solutions and
specialty batteries systems. Leclanché is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange
(SIX: LECN).

SIX Swiss Exchange: ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9

Consortium partners hand over Memorandum of Understanding to Federal
Minister Anja Karliczek on 23 January 2019

[IMAGE]

From left to to right:
Michael Deutmeyer/EAS Batteries; Federal Minister for Education and Research
Mrs. Anja Karliczek; Torge Thönnessen/Customcells; Gerold Neumann/Liacon
Batteries; Ralf Elze/Leclanché GmbH

Disclaimer
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to
Leclanché's business, which can be identified by terminology such as
"strategic", "proposes", "to introduce", "will", "planned", "expected",
"commitment", "expects", "set", "preparing", "plans", "estimates", "aims",
"would", "potential", "awaiting", "estimated", "proposal", or similar
expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of
Leclanché's production capacity, potential applications for existing
products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or
potential future sales or earnings of Leclanché or any of its business
units.

You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such
forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Leclanché regarding
future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
statements. There can be no guarantee that Leclanché's products will achieve
any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that
Leclanché, or any of the business units, will achieve any particular
financial results.

* * * * *

Contacts

Media contacts:

Europe/global:
Desiree Maghoo
T: +44 (0) 7775522740
E-mail: dmaghoo@questorconsulting.com

Laure Lagrange
T: +44 (0)7768 698 731
E-mail: llagrange@questorconsulting.com

Switzerland:
Thierry Meyer
T: +41 (0)79 785 35 81
E-mail: tme@dynamicsgroup.ch

Thomas Balmer
T: +41 (0) 79 703 87 28
E-mail: tba@dynamicsgroup.ch

Investor Contacts
Anil Srivastava / Hubert Angleys
Tel.: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00
E-Mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com

# # #[1]
https://www.bmbf.de/de/weitere-500-millionen-euro-fuer-batterien-made-in-germany-7711.html


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