Al-Dobowi opens 200 million dirham battery plant

Eternity Technologies FZ LLC plant, owned by the Al Dobowi Group, has been launched with an investment of 200 million dirhams ($54.6million). According to the company, it is the Gulf region’s largest industrial battery plant and will design and develop batteries for use in electric fork lift trucks, industrial cleaning machines, access platforms and personnel transport. The plant will be situated in the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) Industrial Park in Al Jazeera Al Hamra and will have the capacity to produce one million 2-volt cells. The company plans to export 85 per cent of its output to global markets including US, Europe and Asia, apart from servicing the UAE and GCC countries.

Speaking at the function, Shaikh Saud said: “The opening of this advanced plant is a high point in the development of the industrial sector of Ras Al Khaimah and we are delighted to see that Eternity Technologies have brought in most modern R&D technologies to their plant.”

Shaikh Mohammed bin Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince of Ras Al Khaimah, and MK Lokesh, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, were also present at the inauguration of the factory.

Surender Singh Kandhari, chairman of Al Dobowi Group, said that the new plant features state-of-the-art product and manufacturing technologies and has a strong research focus. The company has invested heavily in product development and design and has set up advanced chemical laboratories and electrical test laboratories. It reportedly incorporates the latest manufacturing equipment from Germany, Austria, Italy, the US and the UK.

He added that the Al Dobowi Group, operating for 35 years in the UAE, has become a leading player in the motive industry ranging from tyres to automotive battery and industrial battery sectors.

Dr J Mark Stevenson, CEO of Eternity Technologies, said that the global motive power market for the electric truck industry has been growing at over 10 per cent per annum with a growing demand for new and innovative products with high performance and quality standards. “The new plant will have a unit capacity of 400,000 units this year which will grow to 600,000 units in 2012 and will touch one million units by 2013, which would make it one of the largest product-specific battery plants in the world,” he added.

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