Battery Research Münster: Fraunhofer Research Platform FFB Fab Strengthens Europe's Industrial Battery Cell Production
Münster – Germany is further expanding its industrial-scale battery research. With the topping-out ceremony for the new FFB Fab, the Battery Cell Research Production Facility (FFB) in Münster has reached another milestone. The new facility is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of Europe's battery industry.
FFB Fab in Münster Expands Research Platform for Industrial Battery Cell Production
The FFB Fab, being built at the Hansa-BusinessPark in Münster, forms the second major building block of the Battery Cell Research Production Facility. The building will offer more than 20,000 square meters of production space and complements the FFB PreFab, which is already in operation. Together, they form a research and development site covering around 56,000 square meters, where companies can develop battery cell manufacturing processes and test them under industry-like conditions up to gigafactory scale.
The federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are jointly investing around EUR 1.07 billion in the project. North Rhine-Westphalia's State Premier Hendrik Wüst emphasized the industrial policy significance of the project.
"With the Fraunhofer FFB, the federal government and the state are mastering a central industrial policy challenge: bridging research, piloting and industrial scaling," said Hendrik Wüst, State Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Battery Cell Research Production Facility is operated by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and is available to companies as an open research and development platform. The aim is to transfer new manufacturing technologies into industrial application more quickly, thereby accelerating the establishment of competitive battery cell production in Europe.
Division of Labor in Battery Research: From Cell Chemistry to Industrial Manufacturing
Battery research in Germany is organized along the value chain. Universities and research institutions develop new materials, electrodes, battery cell chemistries and cell concepts. Leading centers include the MEET Battery Research Center and the Helmholtz Institute Münster, the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), the Jülich Research Center and RWTH Aachen University with its production and systems research.
The Fraunhofer FFB takes on the next step on the path toward industrial manufacturing. As an open research platform, it enables companies to develop and test production processes for battery cells and scale them up to economical series production. The facility thereby complements basic and materials research with industrial implementation and strengthens the establishment of competitive battery cell production in Europe.
With the expansion of the FFB, Münster is emerging as one of Europe's most important centers for battery research and industrial battery cell production. Together with the research activities of the University of Münster, the Helmholtz Association, Fraunhofer and other partners, the site will in future cover key areas of the battery value chain – from material and cell development to industry-related manufacturing research and scale-up.
Source: IWR Online, 21 Jul 2026
