April 21, 2022: ENTEK is investing to expand its manufacturing of AGM battery separators to India and the US, in response to expanding demand for energy storage solutions for inverters, industrial applications and electric vehicles, the company announced on April 19.
ENTEK said it is already looking for potential productions sites in both countries to develop fully integrated AGM production plants, including both fiber production and paper lines.
Financial details of the investments were not disclosed, but ENTEK said the move would see the company become the first producer of glass fiber for AGM in India — “ensuring control over quality, cost and security of supply” for its customers.
CEO Larry Keith said: “Our outstanding team in Japan has a long history and wealth of experience producing high-performance AGM products for some of the most demanding customers in the world. That technical expertise, together with our equipment manufacturing capabilities, provides the core competencies to successfully scale local production to serve the growing markets in India and the US.”
‘Driving evolution’
The company said increasing vehicle power demands and the growth of EV production to satisfy consumer demand, stricter emissions regulations, comfort and convenience features and safety requirements was “driving an evolution from standard flooded batteries to advanced battery types such as EFB and AGM”.
In India, in addition to transportation, there is rapid growth in industrial, telecom, and inverter battery demand requiring AGM, ENTEK said.
“This outsized growth opportunity in advanced batteries for automotive, coupled with a significant AGM market opportunity for industrial and telecom batteries globally, presents a scalable long-term growth opportunity for ENTEK.”
In December 15, ENTEK announced the appointment of Rajneesh Singh as business development manager of the sales group in India.