In June 2023, Marubeni Corporation (hereinafter, “Marubeni”) contributed additional funding to Skeleton Technologies Group OÜ of Estonia (hereinafter, “Skeleton”), a developer and manufacturer of supercapacitors*, for the construction of a mass production plant for the upcoming next-generation storage “SuperBattery.” 

Skeleton is the largest European manufacturer of supercapacitors, which are energy storage devices delivering higher power and significantly faster charging and discharging than batteries. Amid the growing trend toward electrification in all industrial sectors to realize a decarbonized society, Skeleton is expanding its business and customer base, which already includes Siemens, General Electric, and Shell, as well as major automobile and heavy electric machinery manufacturers, mainly in Europe and the United States.

Skeleton is currently developing the SuperBattery, a next-generation storage battery utilizing proprietary electrode technology and materials to enhance storage capacities, while maintaining the advantages of high power, fast charging and discharging, and long lifetimes afforded by supercapacitors. We are receiving inquiries from customers for various applications including grid energy storage for which demand is expected to grow with renewable energy generation, electric and hybrid vehicles, battery railcars, and electric ships. Several of these customers have already begun trials, including Shell, which is working with Skeleton to develop a heavy-duty electric mining truck, aiming to achieve full electrification of mine transportation trucks. 

Left: Electric mining truck under development with Shell; Right: Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer powered by Skeleton’s supercapacitors (Photo by Larry Chen)

The SuperBattery is a revolutionary storage battery, with its long life, high levels of safety, and high power and fast charge/discharge features. In addition, it has a low environmental impact, due to emitting less CO2 over the product’s life cycle from manufacturing to disposal, when compared with other storage batteries. In response to the need to replace lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries and to develop new applications, Skeleton is building a mass production plant to produce the SuperBattery, with plans to start operations in 2024.

Marubeni, as a strategic partner of Skeleton since its initial investment in March 2021, has confirmed strong demand for the SuperBattery in various industrial fields, such as automobiles, transportation vehicles, and power grid and industrial equipment, through sales and marketing activities in Asia, mainly in Japan and Korea. By providing additional investment and dispatching human resources to Skeleton, Marubeni will support Skeleton's further growth to provide them with global-scale marketing functionalities.

Marubeni has set forth a green strategy in its Mid-Term Management Strategy “GC2024,” which it announced in February 2022, and aims to become a forerunner in the field by “expanding the scope of its Green Business” and “promoting green initiatives in all its businesses.” The company will continue to pursue value creation in its Green Business by delivering the SuperBattery to be used by manufacturers in a broad swathe of industries, such as automotive, power grid, transportation, and mining, thereby contributing to the realization of a sustainable society.

* Also called electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC), these are energy storage devices with extremely low internal resistance, enabling rapid charge and discharge at high currents, with a long service life of up to one million charge/discharge cycles and extremely high safety.

Related release:
March 5, 2021
Marubeni Invests in Estonian Next Generation Energy Storage Technology Company, Skeleton Technologies
https://www.marubeni.com/en/news/2021/release/00021.html

Skeleton Company Overview
Company Name:	Skeleton Technologies Group OÜ
Head office:	Sepise tn 7, Tallinn, Harju County 11415, Estonia
Establishment:	2009
Representative:	Taavi Madiberk, Chief Executive Officer
Main Business:	Development and manufacturing of energy storage devices
Website:	https://www.skeletontech.com/