Eni joint venture kicks off project to produce lithium batteries in Italy

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian energy group Eni and Seri Industrial have initiated operations for a project to produce stationary lithium batteries in southern Italy, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The project is part of Eni's plan to reduce its exposure to the petrochemical sector and increase its activities linked to energy transition.

Under this strategy, Eni last year announced the closure of Italy's last two steam crackers and pledged investments of 2 billion euros ($2.35 billion) in bio-refineries, chemical recycling and batteries.

As Europe increases its capacity to produce energy from renewable sources, it needs to develop battery storage systems able to release power when solar and wind energy are not available.

Eni Storage Systems, a joint venture with Seri Industrial, aims to produce over 8 gigawatt hours per year of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries at Eni's Brindisi site.

Seri Industrial and Eni said they aim to gain more than 10% of the European market for stationary batteries.

The project is in the engineering phase and is undergoing economic, financial and authorisation evaluations expected to conclude in the first quarter of next year, before moving into the execution phase.

In future, the Brindisi site will also implement battery recycling, which will be accessible to other operators in the sector, the companies said.

($1 = 0.8520 euros)

(Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro; Editing by Bill Berkrot)