Image: Redwood MaterialsAccording to Redwood, the Michigan installation demonstrates how battery technology originally developed for electric vehicles can continue to create value after its automotive service life. The installation is expected to reduce the plant’s electricity costs by more than $3 million over the system’s operational lifetime.The project marks a further step in the relationship between the two companies and makes GM the first automotive manufacturer to work with Redwood across the entire battery lifecycle. The partnership now spans battery manufacturing scrap recycling, end-of-life EV battery recycling, second-life battery deployment and the recovery of materials for future battery production.Redwood already works with Ultium Cells, GM’s battery cell joint venture with LG Energy Solution, recycling manufacturing scrap from battery production facilities in the United States. When GM electric vehicle batteries reach the end of their useful life on the road, they are sent to Redwood, where they are either repurposed into stationary energy storage systems or processed to recover critical raw materials.To date, Redwood says it has received more than 28,000 metric tonnes of battery material from GM and Ultium Cells for recycling. In addition, around 10,000 GM battery packs are currently earmarked for second-life applications through Redwood Energy, the company’s energy storage division.The Michigan deployment follows several other large-scale projects using repurposed GM batteries. Second-life GM battery packs are already being used in Redwood’s energy storage installation in Sparks, Nevada. The project, developed for AI infrastructure company Crusoe, is described by Redwood as the world’s largest battery energy storage system built from repurposed EV batteries and the largest microgrid in North America.“Together, GM and Redwood are showing how repurposed EV batteries can keep working well beyond their useful life in a vehicle — first as energy storage, and ultimately as recovered material for future batteries,” the company stated.redwoodmaterials.com
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