LG Energy Solution is consolidating its research and development (R&D) capabilities in Gwacheon. The company is expanding its R&D scope from battery packs and battery management systems (BMS) to materials.

LG Energy Solution has completed the first phase of expansion work at its Gwacheon R&D Campus and began the second phase this month, according to industry sources on Sept. 16. The company plans to obtain approval for use of the expanded building by the end of 2028 and begin operations in 2029. It has been conducting preliminary construction and site preparation for the campus expansion since early last year.

The second phase, which began this month, involves construction of the structural framework for a new research building. Xi C&A is handling construction. Xi C&A has also participated in construction projects for LG Energy Solution's Ochang Energy Plant and plants in Nanjing, China, and Poland.

LG Energy Solution decided in late 2024 to expand the Gwacheon campus. The company needed additional research space as it broadened its research scope from battery packs and BMS to materials. The site opened in 2015 as an R&D base before LG Chem spun off its battery business.

Administrative procedures for the expansion were completed last year. LG Energy Solution reached a final agreement with Gwacheon City in October last year following preliminary negotiations on expanding the research facilities. Gwacheon City agreed to pursue changes to its urban management plan needed for the expansion, while LG Energy Solution agreed to provide more than 70 billion won to the city through public contributions and land donations.

Under the construction schedule, structural work on the new research building is expected to be completed by March 2028. The building will have three basement levels and seven above-ground floors, with a total floor area of about 22,425 square meters. Following interior facility work, R&D equipment will be brought in sequentially starting in June that year. Commissioning and finishing work will begin in September, with approval for use targeted for the end of December. The building will be used as research space starting in 2029.

LG Energy Solution operates R&D institutes in Daejeon, Gwacheon and Magok in Seoul. It also uses LG Electronics' Seocho R&D Campus as research space. Battery technologies developed at the research facilities are tested for mass-production feasibility on pilot lines before being applied to actual production. A key site is the Ochang Energy Plant. LG Energy Solution is building pilot lines there for all-solid-state batteries and sodium-ion batteries to develop process and mass-production technologies for next-generation batteries.

The company is also expanding its R&D infrastructure overseas. LG Energy Solution's Nanjing subsidiary in China established a materials research facility inside an existing battery plant this year. The facility is equipped to analyze and test battery raw materials and samples to study material properties and their performance in battery applications.

LG Energy Solution holds Battery Tech Conferences (BTC) in South Korea and overseas each year to recruit master's and doctoral-level talent. CEO Kim Dong-myung has attended BTC events since last year as part of efforts to recruit researchers. The company is also expanding next-generation battery research through joint research centers with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the University of Münster in Germany and the Helmholtz Institute.

LG Energy Solution has increased R&D investment despite a slowdown in the battery industry. Revenue fell about 30% to 23.6718 trillion won last year from 33.7455 trillion won in 2023. Over the same period, R&D spending rose about 28% to 1.3278 trillion won from 1.0374 trillion won. R&D spending as a percentage of revenue increased to 5.6% from 3.1%. The company spent 725.9 billion won on R&D in the first half of this year.

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LG Energy Solution has introduced laser inspection technology that detects welding defects in real time during production of energy storage system (ESS) batteries. It is the first Korean battery maker to deploy nondestructive 100% inspection technology on a large-scale mass-production line. The equipment was supplied by US laser specialist IPG Photonics.

According to industry sources on Sept. 15, LG Energy Solution has installed nondestructive laser weld inspection equipment on its battery module assembly (BMA) lines for ESS batteries in the US. IPG Photonics has supplied more than 80 units since last year.

LG Energy Solution is using the laser inspection technology in the process of assembling its JF2 pouch-type lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells into modules. The system measures weld depth and internal conditions while metal components are being laser-welded. Unlike inspections performed separately after production, it can verify weld quality at mass-production speeds.

Weld quality directly affects battery performance and safety. Metal components including copper and aluminum are welded as multiple cells are assembled into a battery module. Uneven weld depth or microscopic internal defects can reduce electrical performance and cause durability problems over prolonged use.

Conventional inspection primarily uses cameras and sensors to examine weld shape, temperature and reflected light to identify defects. Internal defects often require destructive testing in which sample products are cut open or disassembled.

The nondestructive laser inspection adopted by LG Energy Solution can reduce reliance on post-production sampling. Because the internal condition of each product is checked during welding, defective products can be identified before moving to subsequent processes. It can also reduce the burden of reworking or scrapping defective products discovered later. The technology can be used regardless of battery form factor.

“There are few nondestructive inspection technologies capable of checking internal weld defects in battery modules at the same time as production,” an industry official said. “Other companies have tested laser nondestructive inspection with a small number of systems, but LG Energy Solution is the first to deploy it on this scale in mass production.”

IPG Photonics acquired Canadian laser-weld quality monitoring company Laser Depth Dynamics (LDD) in 2017, gaining technology for measuring laser weld depth. LDD developed technology that directly measures how deeply a laser melts metal during welding.

At the core is inline coherent imaging (ICI). The technology directs a low-power sensing laser along the same path as the welding laser to measure weld depth and geometry. Unlike cameras or sensors that indirectly assess weld conditions based on reflected light and temperature, ICI can directly measure actual weld depth with micrometer-level precision.

LG Energy Solution is rapidly expanding its ESS battery production capacity in North America. The company has increased its manufacturing footprint by converting local plants that previously produced electric-vehicle batteries to ESS production. Five sites are responsible for ESS battery production, including the Lansing and Holland plants in Michigan, NextStar Energy in Ontario, Canada, L-H Battery Company in Ohio and the Ultium Cells plant in Tennessee.

The company plans to secure more than 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of annual LFP battery production capacity for ESS applications in North America by the end of this year. Its cumulative ESS order backlog exceeds 140GWh. As production volumes increase, quality control that identifies welding defects during mass production becomes increasingly important.

LG Energy Solution has initially deployed the nondestructive laser inspection equipment for pouch-cell-based ESS modules. The technology can also be used for welding cylindrical and prismatic batteries. The company plans to mass-produce cylindrical batteries at its Arizona plant and prismatic batteries at its Lansing plant in Michigan.

Lasers are widely used to precisely join metal components in battery manufacturing. Typical applications include welding tabs that connect internal cell electrodes to external circuits, intercell connections, and electrode tabs to prismatic cans and caps. Because lasers can precisely process narrow areas without physical contact, they are also used for notching to form tab shapes in electrodes. Samsung SDI and SK On, as well as LG Energy Solution, are expanding the use of laser technologies in battery production.