Battery technology startup eLumina has officially launched a $20 million community battery and EV charger factory on the Gold Coast which is touted as the first of its kind in Australia with the aim of supporting more EV charging facilities in regional areas.
The Gold Coast-based company says the facility, located at Yatala in the city’s industrial north, will strengthen Australia’s energy storage sector and help meet global demand for batteries.
The new facility, which is a pilot plant, is expected to be a forerunner to a larger factory that will ultimately support 300 jobs and produce 300 community batteries and EV chargers a year.
The new Yatala facility will also host a battery dry room which will enable testing on battery cells in partnership with universities.
The eLumina D1 model is said to be an efficient DC fast-charging product designed to simultaneously charge two vehicles with a maximum output of 160kW.
The company says its innovative community batteries and electric vehicle chargers will be used across the country, with a focus on providing stable power solutions for remote and rural areas.
“We are extremely proud to officially open our factory here in Yatala on the Gold Coast,” says eLumina's CEO Lisa Marsh.
“We are ambitious to back 300 highly technical and sought-after jobs and we’re proud to partner with TAFE Queensland to support the training and pathways into these jobs.”
The battery and EV charger factory is backed by the Smart Energy Council which says it is partnering with eLumina to support its mission of securing a sustainable energy future for Australians and the aim of making Australia a global leader in the sector.
“What the team at eLumina have done is truly innovative and applying cutting-edge practices to be the first in the country to manufacture community lithium batteries and EV chargers,” says John Grimes, CEO of the Smart Energy Council.
Among the key challenges for the EV sector is securing connectivity across Australia, particularly in regional and rural areas, so eLumina has partnered with electric infrastructure and services provider Addelec to deploy its battery-integrated EV chargers with a focus on regional connectivity.
“When we look globally, especially at places like Europe with a high uptake of EVs, they’re navigating smaller and more densely populated areas,” says Chris McPherson, the general manager of Addelec.
“When we zoom out to the sheer size of Australia, we need to take a different approach considering existing power challenges across Australia, and in turn we hope to see an uptake in EV users across Australia.”
Marsh says eLumina’s ultimate goal is to have a factory three times the size of the new pilot plant and grow its workforce to 300 people.
“Our factory diversifies Australia's manufacturing industry, building economic resilience and contributing to energy sovereignty and strengthening a Gold Coast Made economy,” she says.
“We’re proud to be contributing to Australia’s energy future through pushing the dial forward on battery storage and support the transition to net-zero.”
Damian Kassabgi, CEO of the Tech Council of Australia, says the new facility highlights the Gold Coast as an emerging tech hotspot and manufacturing hub.
“Our goal is to have 1.2 million tech workers in Australia by 2030 and we’re proud to partner with Australian organisations like eLumina whose jobs are supporting the renewable energy sector,” he says.
The eLumina factory plans to initially service the local market to meet Australia’s growing demand, although the company has hinted at ambitions to eventually capitalise on export opportunities.
Production is expected to officially start on site next year.
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