Battery Metals

Sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage are moving toward the mainstream. Wider use of these batteries could lead to lower costs, less fire risk, and less need for lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

On November 18, CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, announced its second-generation sodium-ion battery, mass production of which would begin in 2027. The China-based company said the new battery has an energy density of 200 watt-hours per kilogram, which is an increase from 160 watt-hours per kilogram for the previous generation that launched in 2021. Higher energy density in an EV battery translates into more driving range.

On Nov. 21, a consortium of seven US national laboratories announced a new initiative in which they would spend $50 million to foster collaboration to accelerate the development of sodium-ion batteries. The partnership is led by Argonne National Laboratory in the Chicago area.

The two announcements are part of a larger shift as governments, researchers, and companies look for alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, the dominant technology for EVs and energy storage.

For now, there are no passenger cars or trucks sold in the United States that use sodium-ion batteries. Some sodium-ion models are available in China and countries that import vehicles from China.

“The reason we’re pursuing this is very simple,” said Venkat Srinivasan, a battery scientist at Argonne and the director of the new collaboration. “It’s because the huge demand in lithium-ion batteries has meant that we have a supply-chain constraint.

“We have a problem with cobalt. We have a problem with nickel,” he said, naming two of the metals often used in lithium-ion batteries.

Cobalt, nickel, and lithium carry a variety of concerns, including the environmental damage of mining. Also, much of the supply is controlled by US geopolitical rivals such as China, and some of the mining takes place in countries with inadequate labor standards.

In contrast, a sodium-ion battery relies on an element—sodium—that you can find in table salt and ocean water.

Among the other benefits, sodium-ion batteries perform better than lithium-ion batteries in extreme cold. CATL has said its new battery works in temperatures as low as -40° Fahrenheit.

Also, a sodium-ion battery has much lower risk of fire. When lithium-ion batteries sustain damage, it can lead to “thermal runaway,” which triggers a dangerous and toxic fire.

The process of manufacturing sodium-ion batteries is similar to that of lithium-ion batteries, or at least similar enough that companies can shift existing assembly lines without having to spend heavily on retooling.

But sodium-ion batteries have some disadvantages. The big one is low energy density compared to lithium-ion. As a result, an EV running on a sodium-ion battery will go fewer miles per charge than a lithium-ion battery of the same size.

“That is just what nature has given us,” Srinivasan said. “From a physics perspective, sodium batteries inherently have lower energy density than lithium batteries.”

A typical sodium-ion battery has an energy density of about 150 watt-hours per kilogram at the cell level, he said. Lithium-ion batteries can range from about 180 to nearly 300 watt-hours per kilogram.

I asked Srinivasan what he makes of CATL’s claim of a sodium-ion battery with 200 watt-hours per kilogram.

“We tend to be skeptical of news releases from companies,” he said. He specified that his comment applies to all battery companies.

The national labs’ initiative has a five-year timeline, with a goal of developing sodium-ion batteries with energy densities that match or exceed those of today’s iron phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries. Researchers would do this by finding various efficiencies in design and materials.

The project is happening alongside the labs’ ongoing work to develop and improve other kinds of batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries dominate today’s market. This year, global production of lithium-ion batteries was about 1,500 gigawatt-hours, and production of sodium-ion batteries was 11 gigawatt-hours, or less than 1 percent, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

However, sodium-ion battery production is growing and is projected to reach 140 gigawatt-hours by 2030, about 13 times its current level, according to Benchmark. Lithium-ion production also is projected to nearly triple by 2030.

“The key market driver for sodium-ion batteries is their potential to be cost competitive with lithium-ion batteries,” said Catherine Peake, an analyst for Benchmark.

But cost competitiveness is a challenge right now because lithium prices are unusually low. The global supply of lithium has grown more quickly than demand since 2022, leading to lower prices.

Researchers and analysts expect that sodium-ion batteries will have a cost advantage over lithium-ion in the long run. McKinsey and Co. said last year that sodium-ion batteries have the potential to be 20 percent less costly than lithium-ion batteries. (Srinivasan agreed that 20 percent savings is plausible.)

Most of the push by battery companies to build sodium-ion systems is happening in China, but some of it is happening in other markets, including a plan by California-based Natron Energy to open its first large plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Natron made its announcement about the $1.4 billion project in August and has not given a timeline for when the plant would be online.

Meanwhile, researchers and companies continue working on other battery technologies.

I asked Srinivasan how sodium-ion batteries fit into this larger picture. He said sodium-ion will likely gain market share over the next few years as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

Near the end of the decade, solid-state batteries will begin to become available, which would allow for higher energy densities and longer driving ranges. Solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid or gel. The electrolyte is the substance through which ions move as they go from side to side during charging and discharging.

The technologies can coexist in the market, Srinivasan said.

He thinks solid-state batteries will initially be most common in high-end models and popular with people who want the longest possible ranges.

He expects that sodium-ion batteries will be more common in low-cost EVs for people who live in cities or suburbs and don’t place a high premium on driving range.

“It will not be a fringe player,” he said, about sodium-ion. “It will actually be a fast-growing segment.”

This story originally appeared on Inside Climate News.

Chile has designated six more sites where private companies are eligible to extract lithium, adding to six previously announced, the mining ministry said on Thursday.

Chile, the world’s No. 2 lithium producer, in September announced the first batch of priority areas for new lithium extraction projects to be led by private companies.

Chile’s government has been working to boost production of lithium, a key battery metal, by encouraging private investment as well as its own efforts via state-run copper giant Codelco.

The additional six zones are “composed of deposits of great interest for the development of lithium and other mineral exploration and exploitation projects,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Some of these projects will allow the development of polymetallic mining, lithium extraction projects contained in clay, geothermal resources, among others.”

They are located mostly in the Antogafasta, region, as well as the Tarapaca region, both in the north of Chile.

The deadline for companies to submit proposals is Jan. 31 for all 12 areas, the ministry said. The date represents an extension from the original Dec. 31 deadline for the first group of lithium deposits.

To win government approval, private companies must have experience in the lithium value chain, adequate financial resources, and hold at least 80% of the mining concessions in the proposed project area.

There will be a different procedure only for Cerro Pabellon in Antogafasta, due to a geothermal energy project at the site, the ministry said.

Eos Energy Enterprises closed on a $303.5 million loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, the manufacturer of zinc-based long duration energy storage systems said Monday.

Eos plans to use the loan to expand its capacity at a battery manufacturing plant in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, to 8 GWh annually by 2027 by building four automated manufacturing lines, the company said. It has one line in commercial operation.

The loan guarantee currently covers two manufacturing lines, according to DOE. Pending additional LPO approvals and an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act, two additional lines would be covered, the department said.

As of Sept. 30, Eos had a $589 million order backlog representing about 2.3 GWh and $14.2 billion commercial pipeline totaling about 59 GWh, Eos said in a Nov. 6 earnings presentation. Last month, Springfield, Missouri’s municipal utility agreed to buy Eos batteries totaling 36 MW with a six-hour duration.

In August 2023, the LPO conditionally awarded Eos a loan guarantee of up to $398.6 million. The lower final award reflects the project’s operational costs coming in below forecasts and an up to $315.5 million investment by Cerberus Capital Management announced in June, the Edison, New Jersey-based company said.

“The DOE loan guarantee, alongside our strategic investment from Cerberus, is expected to provide the capital required to build a profitable manufacturing business,” Nathan Kroeker, Eos chief financial officer, said.

The DOE loan facility allows Eos to make up to four draws on the guaranteed loan, subject to the company achieving certain milestones, with each tranche corresponding to the production, maintenance and development and operation of a given production line, Eos said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The loan facility matures on June 15, 2034, according to the filing.The guaranteed loans bear interest at U.S. Treasury rates plus a 0.375% spread.

Eos’ Z3 battery storage system is designed to be safe, flexible, scalable, sustainable and made in the United States using mostly in-country raw materials, the company said in a Nov. 6 quarterly report with the SEC. The Z3 battery module is the only U.S.-made module that provides utilities, independent power producers, renewables developers and commercial and industrial customers with an alternative to lithium-ion and lead-acid monopolar batteries for three- to 12-hour discharge applications, Eos said.

Eos said the Inflation Reduction Act gives it a competitive edge through production tax credits that can be claimed on domestically-made battery components and tax credits for customers with projects that satisfy domestic content requirements.

In the first nine months this year, Eos incurred a $417.7 million net loss and had $111.3 million in negative cash flows from operations, according to the filing.

Zinc could see more sharp price swings as growing tightness along the metal’s supply chain leaves buyers exposed to sudden changes in availability.

The material used to galvanize steel had a turbulent time on the London Metal Exchange last week, finishing almost 5% higher despite a 2.5% slump on Thursday. The spike was fueled by the withdrawal of huge volumes from LME warehouses, which stoked speculation of a potential squeeze on short-position holders.

The volatile week underscored tight supply conditions that analysts see persisting into next year. Any production cuts — either by miners or smelters — could provide the catalyst for more short-term price spikes, Shanghai-based analysts at Guotai & Junan Futures Co. wrote in a note. The level at which it’s safe to buy on dips was moving higher, they added.

Zinc declined 0.4% to $3,091 a ton as of 11:02 a.m. local time on the LME, as a stronger dollar weighed on commodities.

The dynamics of the zinc market bear similarity to those in copper, as smelters in top producer China struggle with poor profitability after a period of rapid expansion. That ramp-up of capacity has left them in fierce competition for raw materials, raising the stakes for annual ore supply contracts that are still under negotiation.

Chinese copper smelters are still in talks with Chilean miner Antofagasta Plc regarding the annual processing fee for next year. Progress on those discussions was slow last month when the industry gathered in Shanghai for CESCO Asia Copper Week, as expectations on prices from the two sides were split.

Spot copper treatment fees — paid to smelters to convert concentrate into metal — were at negative levels in mid-September, and a big drop in annual fees is likely to ramp up pressure on Chinese smelters to rein in output.

Zinc inventories

Supply pressures have made zinc the best performer of the LME’s six base metals this year, with a gain of about 16%. While Chinese demand has been subdued amid a downturn in the steel and property sectors, there have been production downgrades and other kinds of disruptions at major mines such as Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Kipushi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Trading giant Trafigura Group was behind last week’s big take-out orders from LME warehouses, according to people familiar with the matter. In the London market, traders are closely following whether the canceled zinc inventories will be re-registered as warehouse stockpiles at some point, or held off-exchange or fed to consumers.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, inventories also posted a sharp fall last week, declining by more than 9,000 tons for the biggest weekly drop in nearly a year.

Copper declined 0.3% on the LME on Monday, with other industrial metals also edging down.

The Intertubes lit up last week after Phase 1 of the massive Sherco solar power plant in Minnesota officially went online, partially replacing the capacity of the nearby Sherco coal power plant. Somewhat lost in all the excitement is a an iron-air energy storage system to be co-located with the solar array. Though it weighs in at only 10 megawatts, the pilot-scale system will unlock the full 24/7 potential of solar power, leapfrogging over coal to threaten natural gas as well.

Energy Storage Finishes The Job

Before we get to the Sherco coal-to-solar project, let’s take a quick look at the role of natural gas in the demise of coal power. The renewables-friendly administration of former President Obama is credited with killing off coal jobs, but natural gas beat them to the punch. A fresh torrent of domestically produced natural gas entered the market as the Bush presidency drew to an end, and gas began pushing coal out of the power generation sector by the time Obama took office in 2009.

In 2020 the US Energy Administration took stock of the situation and determined that natural gas replaced the vast majority of the 121 coal power plants that closed during an 8-year period beginning in 2011 and ending in 2019, well into the first Trump administration.

Judging from his 2019 State of the Union speech, Trump had already given up on the idea of saving all your coal jobs as a losing proposition, and the numbers back him up. The EIA counts 103 coal-to-gas conversions or replacements from 2011 to 2019. Of that figure, 86 involved boiler-only conversions and and 17 increased their capacity by upgrading to combined cycle technology.

“The decision for plants to switch from coal to natural gas was driven by stricter emission standards, low natural gas prices, and more efficient new natural gas turbine technology,” the EIA concluded.

For wind and solar, the missing piece of the puzzle was energy storage. Arrays of lithium-ion batteries enable grid managers to sock away spare kilowatts during off-peak demand hours and deploy them as needed. With a typical duration of 4-6 hours (or more, in some cases), Li-ion technology provides enough energy storage to handle daily demand cycles and the occasional brief emergency. That can reduce if not eliminate the construction of new gas “peaker” plants to meet local spikes in demand.

More Energy Storage, Less Natural Gas

In spite of their relatively short duration, lithium-ion energy storage systems are already putting the squeeze on natural gas.

At the beginning of this year, EIA projected that planned gas capacity additions for 2024 would top out at just 2.5 gigawatts, the lowest such figure in 25 years.

Those 2.5 gigawatts are a drop in the bucket compared to the total added capacity figure for all utility scale energy projects, which EIA projected at 62.8 gigawatts. “This addition would be 55% more added capacity than the 40.4 GW added in 2023 (the most since 2003) and points to a continued rise in industry activity,” EIA noted.

It remains to be seen if the EIA forecast pans out by the end of this year. If it does, solar will take the lion’s share of the credit for added capacity at 36.4 GW or 58%, with battery-type energy storage following at 14.3 GW or 23%.

“We expect a record addition of utility-scale solar in 2024 if the scheduled 36.4 GW are added to the grid. This growth would almost double last year’s 18.4 GW increase, which was itself a record for annual utility-scale solar installation in the United States,” EIA enthused.

Wind additions have slowed over the past two years but EIA projects the industry will also chip 8.2 GW into the capacity addition pool.

The Long Duration Difference

All else being equal, energy storage supports the case for introducing more wind and solar into the grid, more quickly. The problem is that all else is not equal. As of last year the US grid was still 60% dependent on fossil energy, while demand is going through a growth spurt fueled by data centers among other factors. Renewable energy needs to scale up, and that will require new energy storage systems that store more energy for longer periods of time.

The rule of thumb for the US Department of Energy is 10 hours of storage at minimum, towards a goal of 100 hours or more. As explained by the agency’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, long duration energy storage systems are ” large energy storage installations that can store renewable energy until needed and can provide a much-needed solution for a reliable and decarbonized grid.”

Currently, pumped storage hydropower is the only widely used technology to meet the 10-hour mark, a position it has held since first introduced about 100 years ago.

Long Duration Energy Storage For A Gigantic Solar Power Plant

The Energy Department has been supporting the efforts of private sector innovators to help diversify and expand the long duration field. Among that group is the Massachusetts startup Form Energy, which has been organizing a commercial-scale manufacturing facility for its iron-air technology at the site of a former steel plant in West Virginia, on the Ohio River.

Iron-air batteries generate electricity when iron is exposed to oxygen and begins to rust. When the battery recharges, the rust re-forms into metal and the discharge process can begin again.

Xcel expect the iron-air batteries to store enough energy to last for 100 hours, or more than four days.”The multi-day energy storage systems will strengthen the grid against normal day-to-day, week-to-week, and season-to-season weather variability, as well as to extreme weather events such as severe winter storms and polar vortex events,” Xcel explains.

That’s a perfect fit for mega-scale renewable energy projects like the new Sherco solar power plant.

Phase 1 went into operation last month and was officially marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 19. Its capacity tops 220 megawatts, replacing the capacity of one unit at the Sherco coal plant. If all goes according to plan, two more construction phases will bring the capacity of the solar array to 710 megawatts by 2026, making it the biggest solar power plant in the US to date. In the meantime, the coal plant is retiring in phases and will be out of the picture by 2030.

Adding to the scale of the Sherco project is Xcel’s proposed Minnesota Energy Connection, a new 4,000 megawatt  transmission line that will leverage the Sherco facility to bring more renewable energy to the Upper Midwest grid.

Form Energy’s iron-air battery will certainly have plenty of work to do once it begins operating sometime before the end of 2026. If the 10-megawatt trial meets expectations, Form will have plenty more where that came from. The company expects to produce 500 megawatts’ worth of its iron-air batteries per year at its West Virginia facility.

Xcel is also trialing the iron-air solution at another retiring coal power plant, the Comanche Generating Station in Colorado, so stay tuned for more on that.