Braunschweig University of Technology builds research centre for circular battery economy

Construction of the Centre for Circular Production of Next Batteries and Fuel Cells (CPC) has now begun at Braunschweig University of Technology. It is scheduled to begin work on circular production and recycling processes for batteries and fuel cells in 2027 and is funded by the German federal government and the state of Lower Saxony.

Image: Nickl Architekten Deutschland GmbH

Covering an area of 3,700 square metres, the new CPC at Braunschweig Research Airport will be home to around 150 scientists working on developing batteries and fuel cells that are recyclable from the outset. The aim is to recover and reuse raw materials such as lithium and rare metals instead of wasting them. New production and recycling processes are to be incorporated into product development right from the start; in other words, design for recycling.

The cost of the new building, located in the immediate vicinity of the Lower Saxony Research Centre for Vehicle Technology (NFF), the Lower Saxony Research Centre for Aviation (NFL) and the Fraunhofer Centre for Energy Storage and Systems ZESS, is expected to amount to around 73 million euros. More than half of this (€38.6 million) will be covered by the German state of Lower Saxony, €26.4 million will come from the federal government and €8 million from the Technical University of Braunschweig.

The CPC will also promote the regional network Braunschweig LabFactories for Batteries and more (BLB+). As part of BLB+, the CPC will join forces with the existing Battery LabFactory Braunschweig (BLB) and Fraunhofer ZESS to pool Germany’s leading expertise in sustainable energy storage and fuel cell research. The Clausthal University of Technology, the PTB and the Leibniz University Hannover are also involved in the network.

Prof. Arno Kwade, designated spokesperson for the CPC and head of the Battery LabFactory Braunschweig (BLB), said: “The CPC research building will be the physical embodiment of a ‘circular research factory’. We are developing experimental and digital methods for investigating function-preserving material cycles and energy-efficient recycling and production processes – a decisive contribution to Germany’s high-tech agenda and technological sovereignty.” The long-term goal is to establish the BLB+ consortium as one of the three strongest battery research locations in Germany.

tu-braunschweig.de, ndr.de (both in German)