Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Amte secures £580,000 loan from Highlands and Islands Enterprise for Thurso factory

Loan sees further backing for UK battery industry.

Worker holding Amte battery cell
Loan will allow Thurso facility development. Image: Amte.

Battery manufacturer Amte Power has agreed an unsecured £580,000 loan from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to support the group’s operations in Thurso.

The firm recently revealed plans to scale up its factory this year as it looks to increase production in light of increasing demand.

The Caithness facility makes “Ultra Prime” cells which are used in challenging industrial environments including sectors such as construction, oil and gas and mining.

It also manufactures “Ultra Safe” cells for use at wind and solar power generation sites as well as for domestic residential storage.

Amte Power anode
Amte annode. Image: Amte Power.

The company remains in discussions with HIE regarding the possibility of the Highlands body providing a further loan.

There is much speculation currently surrounding the future of UK battery manufacturing following the recent collapse into administration of Britishvolt in Northumberland with most of its 300 staff being made redundant.

Faith in UK battery landscape

However, in a sign of faith in the nascent battery sector, Australia-based Recharge Industries has been successful in its bid for ownership of Britishvolt and now claims it will be able to create the UK’s first “gigafactory”.

WAE Technologies is also due to open a new battery plant in Oxfordshire in April, creating around 300 jobs.

Amte Power chief executive Alan Hollis said: “We are pleased to receive this support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which demonstrates our future contribution to the local community.”

Eann Sinclair, Caithness and Sutherland area manager at HIE, added: “Amte is a key employer in Caithness and we are pleased to support the company as it transitions from its research and development work into manufacturing.”

Amte factory in Thurso.
Amte factory in Thurso. Image: Amte Power.

Amte’s Thurso facility has the second largest cell production capacity in the UK and the company also has a product development team based in Oxford.

Amte’s proposed gigafactory in Dundee, Scotland is expected to be capable of producing more than 8 million battery cells per year.

The Alternative Investment Market (Aim) listed manufacturer recently posted half-year results showing turnover down from £820,000 to £550,000 and that it made a loss before tax of £3.72 million (H1 2022: loss £2.65m).

In a note to investors, AMTE’s nominated adviser (nomad) and broker WH Ireland said the terms of the loan were “attractive” and would “underpin” operations in Thurso.

The deal also reflected its “strategy of accessing public funds as part of its funding mix for the purposes of financing its environmentally friendly product”.

The HIE loan is repayable after three years and incurs interest after an initial 12-month interest-free period, at 6.5% per year.

The company was formed in 2013 after it was acquired from AGM Batteries, which produced conventional lithium-ion cells, from AEA Technology, a spin off from the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

The agency, which then operated the nearby Dounreay nuclear power station, has been credited with building the world’s first ever prototype lithium-ion battery.

Conversation