A Rimac logo is seen during the New York International Auto Show, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., April 5, 2023. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
SARAJEVO (Reuters) -Rimac Energy, a new subdivision of Croatian electric carmaker Rimac Technology, is expanding production to include an innovative stationary energy storage system that will be fully launched in 2025, the company said on Wednesday.
"In the first year we aim for 300 megawatt/hour production, and for over 1 gigawatt/hour from 2026 on," Karla Janes Mesaric, the company's business development manager, told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Sarajevo.
The Rimac Group comprises the Bugatti-Rimac JV, which produces the Nevera electric sportscar and the Bugatti Chiron and is 45% owned by Porsche AG, and a technology unit which supplies battery systems and powertrain components toother carmakers.
The first production lines will be opened in two months time at the company's new Jankomir facility on the outskirts of the Croatian capital Zagreb as part of a pilot project with Croatian renewable energy company ENNA.
They should become fully operational in the second quarter of 2024 with mass production expected in 2025, Janes Mesaric said.
She said the SineStack energy storage system for the first time integrates a battery, inverter, air conditioner and fire suppression system in a 790 kilowatt/hour unit, reducing switching losses and energy usage.
"We are focused on having a Europe-based product, with more than 100 engineers working on one prototype of the battery," Janes Mesaric said, adding that the company's UK team has extensive experience with energy storage systems.
"We had not expected such an explosion of interest," she said, adding that the first certificates for installation of pilot systems will be issued to buyers in Croatia and Germany.
"We are talking to everyone in Europe but we would like to launch the product first in the Balkans."
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
