Treofan Signs Contract for Separator Films
- Published: April 06, 2017
RAUNHEIM, GERMANY | Treofan, a BOPP film specialist, has won its first major supply contract for its TreoPore microporous separator film. The customer is a Chinese manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electrically powered buses. According to estimates, the global market for electric buses is set to grow by an average of approximately 20%/yr between now and 2025, with China accounting for half of this growth. 
The contract is initially fixed until the end of 2017 but includes a declaration of intent for the quantity of film supplied to continuously increase, with the goal of it reaching 28 million sq m annually in 2020. This is roughly equivalent to the area of separator film needed for 50,000 standard battery packs, each containing 56 kilowatt hrs of energy.
Both safety and cost considerations played a role in the customer’s choice of TreoPore, says Dr. Franz Josef Kruger, head of the TreoPore Business Unit at Treofan. “The biaxial stretching of the film ensures very even mechanical and electrical properties, significantly improving operational reliability and battery performance. And thanks to our innovative extrusion process, we can combine all required properties in a single-layer separator film—with the corresponding gains in efficiency.”
According to the company, the contract marks the first large-scale entry of a European separator manufacturer into this market, which has been dominated by Japanese producers. “This success adds another innovative market segment to Treofan’s customer mix and underlines our capabilities in the area of diversified special applications,” says Dr. Walter Bickel, CEO of the Treofan Group. “The rapidly growing electric car market in Asia offers fantastic opportunities—and we’re determined to make the most of them.”
