Koenig & Bauer and PowerCo SE: Successful Proof of Concept

Koenig & Bauer AG (“Koenig & Bauer”, WKN: 719350 / ISIN: DE0007193500) announced a decisive breakthrough in its development partnership with Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo SE in sustainable battery cell production. PowerCo SE has successfully approved the development status of the dry-coating system, developed by Koenig & Bauer for the solvent-free powder coating of anodes and cathodes, with the ‘factory acceptance test’ protocol. This means the proof of concept, targeted for mid-2025, has been achieved and the concept phase successfully concluded.

“The successful completion of the proof of concept is a significant milestone for Koenig & Bauer and underlines our innovative strength and our commitment to sustainable technologies”, says Dr Andreas Pleßke, CEO of Koenig & Bauer. “We are proud to contribute to future-oriented battery cell production and look forward to further collaboration with PowerCo SE to bring this pioneering technology to series production readiness”.

The development of the system for industrial dry powder coating of electrodes is a highly innovative and complex process, which includes both the industrialisation and scaling of basic technologies and the development of entirely new machines. Dry-coating is a sub-process of multi-stage battery cell production and eliminates the complex and energy-intensive drying of wet-coated electrodes. The current phase is viewed positively by both parties and is continuing with high intensity, which was also reflected in PowerCo's order of another prototype last year.

The next step is to move the dry-coating system to a pilot line at PowerCo SE. Further scaling and developments will be carried out there to demonstrate the technology's suitability for industrial series production. The development partners will continue to bear their respective development costs as agreed. 

Koenig & Bauer plans to complete the scaling and developments with PowerCo SE in 2026. A commercial framework agreement has already been concluded between the parties for this purpose.