January 28, 2019 - Together with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Siemens opened a robotic battery module factory in Trondheim, Norway. In the future, 55 battery modules per shift will be assembled every day for the marine and offshore market. The factory comprises a robotized and digitized production line with eight robotic stations with a capacity of up to 300 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. From unpacking the incoming production parts to testing the finished battery module, the whole factory is completely automated. One battery consists of nine battery modules, each module consists of 28 battery cells.
So far, Norwegian companies have led the way in the electrification of shipping. Due to the global decision to invest in maritime battery systems, interest in Siemens battery solutions is also growing on the international market. Due to Norway's role in electrification and Siemens Trondheim's technology and production environment for electrical solutions in ships and offshore applications, Trondheim was chosen to be the location.
Until now, the market has been largely driven by electric ferries, but fishing boats, workboats for aquaculture and offshore plants also offer great potential for the future. The factory recently received its first order to assemble batteries for use on a drilling rig. West Mira, a drilling platform of the international drilling company Northern Drilling, will thus be the first drilling rig in the world to be operated with a modern battery solution. For such a drilling rig, it is estimated that a battery solution can reduce annual fuel consumption by twelve percent, annual carbon dioxide emissions by fifteen percent and annual nitrogen oxide emissions by twelve percent.