IPS opens its first battery factory in Bulgaria

Bulgarian company International Power Supply (IPS) has opened a factory for the serial production of battery systems in the Hemus Industrial Park near Sofia. With the new factory, Bulgaria is effectively appearing on the map of this key industry, as this is the first such facility in the country and the entire production cycle is based here.

The only Chinese part of the storage systems are the lithium battery cells, which are manufactured by EVE and Cornex. The capacity is 3 GWh per year and revenues of €350 million are expected.

From Sofia to Antarctica

The investment in the new plant is €12 million for machinery and equipment, and it employs 60 people. However, work is already underway to expand the plant. The value of the investment in the two production facilities will reach €26 million by the middle of next year, Alexander Rangelov, CEO of IPS, told Economic.bg.

There are also plans for another plant, for which European funding is expected, with locations around the Maritsa East or Bobov Dol complexes being considered. These locations have the necessary electricity and railway line to serve the production. The plant will be fully automated.

An investment decision has also been made for a factory in Poland, which will operate under IPS's license and technology.

The company also has other production facilities in the capital for industrial and heat supply systems, such as heat exchangers, inverters, and converters.

The company exports its products to 59 countries around the world, and its storage systems are installed in Antarctica, Africa, and South America.

IPS's capacity is fully loaded until March with orders from Bulgaria, a large part of which are due to projects under the Recovery Plan.

But after that, our plan is to work entirely outside Bulgaria – on the European market," said Rangelov, explaining the reason: “In the West, the market is more honest and rational.”

"The Industrial Emissions Act is already in force in Western Europe. The European Commission has officially authorized bonuses for companies that purchase products of European origin. These are the necessary measures,“ Rangelov added, noting that they are still lacking here.

An example is Italy, where solar panel production is starting, and buyers will receive a 20% bonus for purchasing locally manufactured products.

We don't want a bonus as a Bulgarian company, we want a bonus as a European company.”

Competition from China

Rangelov also raised the issue of aggressive Chinese competition, which is stifling European manufacturers. Chinese companies have endless resources to finance development activities, export financing and, above all, they are heavily subsidised. In his words, their government's strategy is brilliant—to conquer the world and thus kill everything that could be created in Europe.

There is no common European policy to encourage European manufacturing, there is not enough money for research and development, for the creation of automation manufacturing,“ Rangelov added.

In fact, this motivated him, as he often hears ”there's no way, it's not possible."

In order to compete with Chinese manufacturers, who buy cheaper parts and are heavily subsidized, the Bulgarian company decided to create a new architectural concept for these systems, so that it would be different—to improve many of the limitations, options, and technologies that the Chinese have.

We are working to make the production process fast, easy, and competitive, and the final cost competitive even with subsidized Chinese manufacturers,” says Rangelov.

How to win an award from Musk

A few years ago, the 36-year-old company received an award from technology leader Elon Musk. Rangelov describes it as “a dream come true.” It was the POD Innovation award from the Hyperloop Pod Competition, organized by Musk's company, SpaceX. The Bulgarian team demonstrated unique solutions for the magnetic motors, brakes, sensor system, and power supply system of the Hyperloop capsule.

When asked how to win an award from Musk, he replies:

Well, just hard work, faith in the efforts of engineers, especially in Bulgaria, because here we somehow don't believe in ourselves.”

“A lot of sacrifices, a lot of work on the drawing board, a lot of work and, last but not least, stubbornness and persistence. Here, we love to say that something can't be done. And our Bulgarian stubbornness and persistence actually show that nothing is impossible and there are no Chinese, no Americans.”

Yes, capable Bulgarian engineers can even make better technologies!" concludes Rangelov.

Translated with DeepL.