Sicona acquires US battery firm Advano

Australian battery technology company Sicona Battery Technologies has acquired New Orleans-based Advano, securing a US operating base and expanding its silicon anode patent portfolio as American legislation shifts battery production economics in favour of local manufacturers.

The deal gives Sicona immediate access to Advano's pilot manufacturing plant, research and development laboratories, and cell-testing equipment in New Orleans - located near NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility and at the Center for Energy Resource Management (CERM).

Sicona said it will install its own SiCx silicon-carbon anode production process at the plant and intends to expand the facility into a 'Super Pilot' operation capable of producing material for more than three million battery cells.

Target applications include AI data centre battery backup systems, robotics, power tools, autonomous systems, drones, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and defence.

The acquisition also consolidates Advano's silicon anode patent portfolio, bringing Sicona's total to 151 patents across 46 patent families, which the company said positions it as one of the leading intellectual property holders in mechanical silicon anode materials.

Founded in 2016, Advano has raised approximately US$46 million to develop a silicon-based anode material designed to increase lithium-ion battery energy density and reduce cost per kilowatt hour.

The timing of the acquisition is deliberate; from October 2027, US legislation will prevent government procurement of batteries produced by certain Chinese manufacturers, and a separate law already reimburses companies 10% of battery anode material production costs when manufactured inside the United States.

Sicona said it intends to have US anode material production under way before the 2027 restrictions take effect, enabling the Australian company to compete for American contracts on both price and country-of-origin grounds.

The project has been selected for US congressional appropriations funding, subject to completion of applicable government processes.

"This acquisition is a major strategic step in Sicona's transition from an Australian battery-materials company into a global lithium-silicon battery platform with a permanent operating base in the United States," said Christiaan Jordaan, founder and chief executive of Sicona Battery Technologies.

"We see New Orleans as the right place to build a long-term advanced-manufacturing presence, supported by an experienced industrial workforce and a strong research and engineering base."

Sicona also announced that Professor Y. Shirley Meng, vice president (industry) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, will join as scientific advisor. Meng has authored or co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications.

"Combining Sicona's technology platform with Advano's New Orleans facilities and US capabilities creates a strong opportunity to accelerate the development of advanced battery materials," Meng said.

At the end of June, Sicona secured a $45 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to build and operate a commercial-scale silicon-carbon battery anode production facility in the Illawarra region of NSW.