A Taiwanese company that makes lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries said yesterday that it plans to enter into a joint venture with a bus manufacturer in China to produce batteries for large buses.
Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing Co (必翔), which is primarily an electric scooter maker, said yesterday that it intends to take a 15 percent stake in the joint venture with Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co (FEL, 佛山電器照明) and to provide the technology and materials needed to manufacture LFP bus batteries.
Under the terms of a letter of intent signed by the two companies, the battery factory will be set up in Foshan, Guangdong Province, Pihsiang deputy spokesman More Huang said.
“We are engaged in negotiations and will try to finalize the investment plan soon,” Huang said.
The preliminary plan is to manufacture 15 million batteries for FEL in the first year of the project, he said.
FEL is primarily a lighting equipment maker, but in the last two years it has acquired three bus manufacturing plants in China.
Huang said FEL plans to expand its annual bus production capacity to 2,000 units by 2015, by which time it will require 100 million LPF batteries per year.
FEL was impressed by Pihsiang’s battery production technology after it tested the batteries in its buses in April, Huang said.
“Pihsiang holds the patents and FEL has the funds. We are going to be a good match,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has announced a list of “2020 core industries” to highlight Taiwan’s evolving industrial infrastructure, Taiwan Institute for Economic Research vice president Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said at the 7th National Industrial Development Conference yesterday.
The 24 industries listed under the “2020 core industries” initiative include new industries such as green energy, traditional industries and service-related industries with potential for development.
Kung, one of the panelists at the conference, said that these industries will follow one of three paths: upgrading, strengthening or internationalization and technological upgrading.
He added that to improve industrial performance, the industries should pay more attention to international issues such as environmental protection and adhere to international best practices.
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