• Battery business is an ideal addition to Miba's product portfolio and is growing strongly - global expansion and additional production sites planned
   
• Miba has already invested 80 million euros in building up its electrification-related business
   
• More than 100 additional employees are currently being sought for Miba's further growth path in Upper Austria alone
   

Laakirchen/Bad Leonfelden, 30.9.2022. Our world is being electrified: Cars, buses and boats, motorcycles and light commercial vehicles, construction machinery, autonomous forklifts in production, drones, and even snow groomers - all of these end applications are increasingly becoming electrically driven. The centerpiece of these drives are batteries, as developed and produced by the Upper Austrian technology group Miba at Miba VOLTfactory #01, which was officially opened today in Bad Leonfelden. The new production site is Miba's first battery plant worldwide. It has an annual production capacity of 500 megawatt hours on an area of 3,900 square meters. In other words, around 50 million battery cells can be processed into around 20,000 battery systems per year. This volume could be used to equip around 10,000 electric mid-range cars.

Technology leadership drives growth – worldwide expansion and further battery plants planned

VOLTfactory #01 is Austria's technologically leading battery production plant. It is the first in the world to have developed a special laser contacting process for welding round battery cell systems. The battery systems are produced on a fully automated production line, the VOLTjet. Self-driving robots support production and logistics, and from next year artificial intelligence will also be used for quality monitoring. Thanks to the modular design of the battery systems, customer-specific requirements can be implemented very quickly. In addition, the Miba FLEXcooler, a novel and award-winning temperature management system, is installed in the batteries. "This technology leadership is the basis for strong market demand and the strong growth of our battery business," says Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer. "Our goal therefore is to expand worldwide and establish further VOLTfactory sites. The Bad Leonfelden site is the pilot and flagship plant for this."

Battery technologies are an optimal addition to Miba's product portfolio

Miba has been working on battery technologies for more than five years. They are an ideal fit for the company's growth strategy, as CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer explains: "Driven by our corporate mission 'Technologies for a cleaner planet,' we want to grow to sales of 1.5 billion euros by 2027 with technologies for end applications for the efficient generation, transmission, storage and use of energy. Batteries as energy storages are an important pillar and an optimal addition to the Miba product portfolio." That's why the group initially developed the Miba FLEXcooler, a completely new type of battery cooling solution that contributes significantly to lower weight, a reduced carbon footprint and the highest battery performance. In 2019, Miba acquired a stake in battery specialist Voltlabor, which has grown significantly since then and is majority owned by Miba since spring 2022 under the new name Miba Battery Systems. "The opening of the Miba VOLTfactory #01 marks another milestone on the strong growth path of our battery business, which we intend to further accelerate in the coming years," adds Miba CEO Mitterbauer.

80 million euros invested so far in building up the electrification-related business - comprehensive product range established

The battery systems manufactured in Bad Leonfelden are also an ideal complement to Miba's electrification strategy. Miba has already invested approximately 80 million euros in the development of this business area since 2019 and has built up a comprehensive product portfolio. "Our goal is to work in close partnership with our customers to develop their electrified products of tomorrow, bring them to series production readiness and produce them to the highest quality," indicates Mitterbauer. In this way, we are creating an essential foundation for Miba's further growth, in electrification as well as in our other business segments."

Shaping the future together: Additional employees are constantly being sought for Miba's further growth path

"We are constantly looking for additional employees for this growth path, more than 100 in Upper Austria alone," adds Mitterbauer. "If you want to break new ground, contribute your know-how and ideas and thus make an important contribution to greater energy efficiency, sustainability and a cleaner planet, you've come to the right place. Together with such people, we want to shape Miba's future."

Governor Stelzer: "Dynamic industrial companies like Miba are driving Upper Austria forward as a center of innovation"

Upper Austrian governor Thomas Stelzer was one of the many prominent guests at the opening of the Miba VOLTfactory. "Dynamic industrial companies like Miba are driving Upper Austria forward as a location for innovation. Energy efficiency and sustainability are the topics of the future in which our state wants to be at the forefront and which also secure jobs and prosperity. The opening of the new production plant is also a commitment to Upper Austria as a business location," emphasizes Stelzer.