CSIRO names cell cans and ED copper foil as Australia's battery bets

A CSIRO report has identified two components — prismatic battery cell cans made from Australian aluminium via impact extrusion, and copper current collector foil produced by electrolytic deposition (ED) — as the front-runners for Australia's sovereign battery manufacturing capability.

The report, The future of Australian battery manufacturing: Cell cans and current collector foils, studies the technical manufacturing processes and materials required to produce selected components of lithium-ion battery cells: the cell cans and the current collector foils used in each cell. The researchers compared those requirements against known capabilities in Australia to identify where a domestic battery supply chain could take hold.

What does this change for Australian manufacturing?

CSIRO Advanced Battery Manufacturing lead Dr Adam Best said Australia can bring more of the battery manufacturing value chain onshore.

"This would mean Australia could move beyond exporting raw and refined materials alone, towards creating higher-value products, supporting skilled manufacturing jobs and strengthening supply chains for technologies that will underpin the clean energy transition," Best said.

The report does not argue for full cell production on day one. It argues for entering the chain at the component level, where Australia's existing metals industry and equipment base already meet the technical requirements. That framing separates what the country can build now from what would require a far larger industrial build-out.

Cell cans: the aluminium route

On battery cell cans, the report's primary recommendation is to consider production of prismatic format cells made from Australian aluminium, using the impact extrusion route.

The researchers set out a two-step investment path:

• An aluminium slug production facility, equivalent to the one Jamestrong Packaging commissioned in 2025 for $6-8 million (USD 4-5.4 million), but tailored to the requirements of prismatic cells.
• An automated, high-volume production cell specific to the impact extrusion of prismatic type battery cell cans.

The Jamestrong commissioning gives the recommendation a concrete cost anchor. A slug plant in that price range positions the first stage of can manufacturing as a single-digit-million-dollar investment rather than a gigafactory-scale commitment.

Foils: ED copper first

For Australian production of current collector foils, the report's first priority is copper foil made using the ED method. The study finds ED copper foil more likely to offer a viable commercial case than rolled annealed (RA) copper foil or rolled aluminium foil.

The report issues six recommendations for foil production. Among them is the scoping and costing of an ED copper foil facility, designed as a scalable plant. The reasoning is financial: a smaller up-front investment lowers the barrier to entering the market, "but also offer[s] scope for straightforward expansion of the production capacity by adding additional parallel production cells."

The modular logic matters for a market entrant. Rather than betting on a full-scale foil plant before demand is proven, the recommended design lets capacity grow in increments, one production cell at a time.

The minerals-to-components case

CSIRO researcher Geoff de Looze said the study focused on realistic opportunities to move from minerals and materials into higher-value components.

"Australia has many of the building blocks needed for a battery manufacturing sector," de Looze said.

The two component streams now carry the report's institutional weight behind them: prismatic cans from Australian aluminium, and ED copper foil from an expandable first line. The milestone that decides what happens next is investment — whether a slug plant in the Jamestrong cost class and a scoped ED foil facility move from recommendation to final investment decision, and whether Australia's battery manufacturing incentives reach components as well as cells.