ASPİLSAN Enerji maintained its steady growth in 2021, despite global economic challenges suffered during the pandemic time.

Making a statement about the works carried out in 2021, ASPİLSAN Enerji General Manager Ferhat Özsoy said: “Both the pandemic and economic problems have affected us, like many other companies. However, despite the pandemic and global economic problems, we have made significant progress in 2021.

Our investment in a lithium-ion battery production facility, which we began and are continuing with the backing of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, has become ASPİLSAN Enerji's most crucial transformation and growth problem this year. This is a critical and crucial project for our country, and I can assure you that we have given it our entire attention. The main activity in our attention has been our work for this facility, where we expect mass production of batteries to commence in the first part of 2022. With a lot of effort, I was able to make this investment in a short amount of time.

Our research and development efforts have continued

We began high-tech battery design projects for ASELSAN, TAI, and Roketsan products in addition to new commercial batteries, and we have achieved substantial progress in this area as well. These batteries will contribute significantly to the local and national manufacturing of essential defence equipment in our country. Our principal purpose as a Turkish Armed Forces Foundation entity is to address the Turkish Armed Forces' battery and battery needs. However, advancements in battery technology and battery systems have now pervaded all aspects of life. As ASPİLSAN Enerji, we've come a long way in terms of battery manufacturing both locally and nationally. In this context, our primary goal is to comprehend the demands of all sectors and work with them to develop solutions. In this way, we hope to lower the current account deficit by developing solutions that fulfil all of our country's needs while also raising the battery's domesticity rate.

In addition, at our Ankara R&D Centre, we have completed the construction of an infrastructure capable of creating and constructing batteries as well as supporting raw material producers. We serve all of our stakeholders in this R&D centre, which will serve as a base for our country's battery research, with all types of tests, small and large, for battery production and development. Similarly, we're working together on battery development studies thanks to a contract we signed with TUBITAK Rail Transport Technologies Institute (RUTE).

By releasing the first prototypes of its work on hydrogen and fuel cells this year, our Istanbul R&D Centre, on the other hand, marked an important milestone. At SAHA EXPO, we demonstrated our electrolyser and fuel cell prototypes to the general public. Following the signing of the Paris Convention, the significance of these works became even more apparent. In this regard, we have reached a significant milestone this year.

In non-defense sectors, our product portfolio has grown

When it comes to new markets and goods, this year we entered a significant one by localizing various rail system batteries. We received the fruits of our investments in the field of rail system batteries this year, and we supplied our first domestic Rail System batteries to our enterprises and manufacturers, in parallel to the metro and train investments made in our country.

This year, we also began offering our initial goods for several naval systems. In addition, we chose to collaborate with Arçelik to produce batteries for household appliances, allowing us to enter a new market. With our telecom batteries and e-mobility batteries, we've started supplying two different sectors with our products. We also entered the civil aviation sector thanks to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) accreditation, which we received this year. In this regard, we may say that 2021 will be remembered as a pivotal year for ASPİLSAN Enerji.

Our workforce has grown by more than a hundred percent

In 2021, ASPİLSAN Enerji increased its workforce by more than 100%, with a total of 235 employees, up from roughly 100 at the start of the year.

In 2021, ASPİLSAN Enerji continued to expand fast, thanks in part to the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation's sponsorship. ASELSAN, TUSA, Roketsan, and HAVELSAN, in particular, aided and contributed significantly to this expansion."