S. Korea Says It Will Inject $12.5 Billion in Rechargeable Battery Tech Over 10 Years
South Korea plans to inject up to 15 trillion won ($12.5 billion) to become the world's dominant producer of rechargeable batteries in the next 10 years, the government said Sunday.
South Korea's ministers of Knowledge Economy and Educational Science and Technology said a new "Battery 2020 Project" aims to pool resources from both the state and private sector to gain control of the rapidly expanding industrial sector.
The announcement follows a spate of recent statements by Western automotive executives that China has the economic might to dominate the electric-vehicle industry, including EV-battery technology and production.
The global market for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is expected to grow six-fold from $12.3 billion this year to $77.9 billion in the target year as demand for the source rises in such areas as mobile information technology products, electricity powered vehicles and power cells used to store energy, the Yonhap News Agency reported. Yonhap, being the only news agency of South Korea and publicly funded, is a voice of the South Korean government.
As of 2009, South Korean, Japanese and Chinese companies controlled 95 percent of the global production with Japan's Sanyo holding onto 20 percent of the market followed by Samsung SDI Co. and LG Chem Ltd. controlling 19 percent of worldwide production each. This was followed by a 12 percent market share for Sony and 7 percent for China's BYD.
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