Battery Metals

A handful of EV battery companies dominate global EV battery production. One of those companies is LG Chem, which supplies batteries to nearly every automaker under the sun.

Recent news indicates that LG Chem has increased its 2020 production target from 70 GWh to 90 GWh, approximately 29%.

“If producing at capacity, LG Chem’s LIB output and raw material consumption would be greater than the entire LIB market in 2015,” Roskill writes.

“Assuming 100% of output was to be NMC532, 90GWh would require around 100kt of cathode, containing 40kt nickel, 22kt cobalt, 16kt manganese and 50kt lithium (carbonate equivalent), and 90kt of anode materials which could be 100% graphite.” Note that there’s been a general shift toward NMC811 in the EV battery industry.

Here’s more detail about LG Chem developments and its own suppliers: “It is no surprise then that LG Chem has been getting its raw material supply chain in order to meet future LIB capability. In April, LG Chem signed a joint venture with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to establish precursor and cathode material facilities with capacity of 40,000tpy, with expansion to 100,000tpy envisioned. Huayou is a cobalt refiner with cobalt mining and processing assets in the DRC. In July, LG Chem signed a 5-year, 7,000tpy lithium hydroxide off-take with Nemaska Lithium, and last week announced a 3-year, 16,000tpy lithium hydroxide supply agreement with Ganfeng Lithium starting 2019. LG Chem has also invested in Korean anode producer GS E&C and has a 10% stake in Korea Zinc’s nickel sulphate subsidiary Chemco. With LG Investment, LG Chem is an investor in Cobalt Blue’s Thackaringa primary cobalt project in Australia, and the company had previously been linked with Pilbara Minerals for a downstream conversion facility.”

Overall, the significant increase in 2020 production capacity reflects the growing realization that electric cars can be competitive today, which has led to more serious models and probably battery procurement orders from large automakers. There are also rising electric car startups that will need to get their batteries from somewhere once they are ready for production, and LG Chem seems like a pretty solid “somewhere.”

Kingfisher will this month start using solar and battery storage to provide grid services. While making money from helping to balance the grid is a bonus, it comes a distinct second to the firm’s ambition to cut carbon, consumption and and cost, says head of carbon and energy, Jeremy Parsons.

Kingfisher installed a 756kW battery system at its Swindon distribution centre this summer, while adding a further 600kW of rooftop PV. It already had 1.2MW installed under the feed-in tariff regime, but Parsons says the battery made Kingfisher’s new PV viable without subsidy.

“The building was built to take solar – and distribution centres naturally have large roofs. But the site was exporting a lot of power due to the way demand shifted during the day,” says Parsons.

By installing the battery, the firm can store solar power generated during the day, use the battery for evening peaks and recharge overnight at cheap prices so that the batteries can contribute to the morning peak. “So the battery enabled us to justify adding the extra solar,” he explains.

The result, in tandem with an ongoing energy efficiency programme, is significant savings on its energy bill.

The battery also enables Kingfisher to “test the concept, the technology and the revenue streams” of co-locating solar and storage, adds Parsons.

“I can already see future projects where we can roll this out,” he says. “My ultimate dream is to use batteries to create a net zero distribution centre – given the amount of power they use, that is quite exciting.“

By ‘net zero’, Parsons means across the year as a whole, given solar generation will peak in the summer, leading Kingfisher to export, and decline over winter, leading it to import from the grid.

“In my mind, that is about as far as the model takes us. But there will be a point where we can get those distribution centres very low [in terms of net consumption from the grid],” says Parsons. “I’d like to get them off the grid altogether; whether or not we do, we will have to see.”

Grid services

Kingfisher will start to provide Firm Frequency Response (FFR) from September via an aggregator, plus some day-ahead trading through its energy supplier.

Parsons says demand-side response was only a “tiny” part of the solar-storage business case. As a result, “there is potentially quite a bit of upside” from providing grid services.

“We are participating [in grid balancing] because it is quite interesting, rather than anything else,” says Parsons. “Trading and making money [from balancing markets] is not our primary aim. But there is a benefit; it will generate additional revenues and learning that help drive interest in, and viability of, other projects.”

Grid services revenue will also help mitigate changes to distribution network charges. “The trading revenues are probably much bigger than I modelled, because we built a very conservative business case,” says Parsons. “So while we probably lose something [on flattened DUoS red bands], we can make them up from trading.”

Board level buy-in

Parsons says that while change is constant, Kingfisher’s sustainability strategy is ingrained within the business “right up to board level”.

“That means [the board] accepts a good rational and buys-in, even if there may be changes to revenue streams, because there are always pluses and minuses. As long as we understand the risks, this is where having an organisation that is committed to sustainability really helps,” says Parsons. “It would be a lot tougher to try and do this at a different retailer.”

Flex and flux

Kingfisher operates in other European markets and while some business lobbies bemoan a lack of regulatory and policy certainty, Parsons thinks the fundamentals are strong. “It sounds slightly contradictory, given all the change going on, but the UK is still a good place to invest in energy,” he says.

Meanwhile, he believes the end of subsidy regimes will drive innovation and reduce administration.

“My priority is determining what works commercially for Kingfisher and delivering it,” says Parsons. “Getting to a subsidy-free world is brilliant, because you can then do what you like without having to submit multiple pieces of admin to the government [to make your business case stack up].”

EVs and second life batteries

Kingfisher is installing EV charging points that will run off the battery at Swindon and is starting to develop its EV strategy. Parsons thinks EVs will create “significant pull” on battery volumes to the extent that there may be a supply-demand imbalance in the short term. But he thinks second life batteries may address that issue.

“Second life batteries are really interesting and we are poised and ready to put second life batteries into Swindon,” he says. “If that reduces the cost, I don’t mind that they are less efficient, because we can model around it.”

The four pillars of Kingfisher’s plan

In 2014, Kingfisher committed to cutting its carbon footprint 25 per cent by 2020 and in 2015 earmarked £50m to invest in renewable energy. Parsons, who previously spent 15 years at Centrica, played a key role in securing those funds. He’s now writing the firm’s 2025 carbon reduction targets.

“Our energy strategy is fourfold,” says Parsons.

“First is to be frugal and efficient in the energy that we do use. At store level that means LED lighting across all outlets and we have building management systems (BMS) going in to better monitor and manage our stores. We are also developing blueprints around how our stores should be built for maximum efficiency and sustainability.”

“Second is how we buy energy: All our power is renewable and 100% REGO-backed so that it can be traced to the source of generation,” he adds.

“Third is onsite renewables: deploying air source heat pumps, PV on roofs, biomass, battery storage,” says Parsons, “whichever technologies are right for the site and that are commercially viable.”

The fourth pillar is around innovation. “It’s important to set out a future path. For example, we recently developed a ‘zero energy’ concept Screwfix store that generates more power than it consumes from the grid,” Parsons explains. “Hopefully that is something we will start to rollout at greater volume.”

The Graphene Flagship was launched in 2013 with the mission to take graphene and related layered materials from academic laboratories to society, revolutionize multiple industries and create economic growth and new jobs in Europe. After five years, the Flagship consortium has successfully completed the Core1 phase and is progressing smoothly towards more applied phases. It is on its way to achieving its objective of developing the high potential of graphene and related 2D materials to the point of having a dramatic impact on multiple industries.

The Reviewing Panel thoroughly examined the results obtained in this Core1 phase and concluded that for many topics, there has been a clear transformation of the activities, moving from individual research projects to genuine collaboration towards larger goals – exactly what a Flagship project should aim for. Nearly all milestones and key performance indicators have been met, often exceeding expectations. There are numerous examples of significant scientific and/or technological achievements, with clear progress beyond the state of the art. The Work package on Photonics and Optoelectronics led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Frank Koppens was recognized as one of the closest to being brought into industrial exploitation due to its significant potential for both scientific breakthrough and innovation.

As the Flagship heads into the Core2 phase, a number of so-called Spearhead projects – application focused projects motivated by future market opportunities- are also taking off. Related topics range from integration of graphene into 5G communications and the internet of things, to novel batteries, solar farming and flexible (bio)-electronics.

Another development being ushered in with Core2 is the launch of the Network of Business Developers. The business developers are the key players in creating the network connecting the research efforts to industry. Their tasks include scouting developing technologies from within the Flagship and identifying industry trends, needs and roadmaps. ICFO is hosting one of the business developers, who will be devoted to the portfolios of Photonics and Optoelectronics and Flexible and Wearables technologies.

One of the richest veins of manganese in North America is in the city of Emily’s backyard.

For more than a decade Cooperative Mineral Resources, an offshoot of Crow Wing Power, has been sitting on billions of pounds of the mineral buried on the edge of the northern Minnesota town.

A mine there could provide the first domestic manganese supply for electric car batteries and other consumer electronics — a swiftly growing market — but as for now the price of the mineral is still too low to cover the cost of getting it out of the ground.

“We’ve been sort of slowly sitting, waiting, studying for the right investor and time,” said Char Kinzer, a spokesperson for Cooperative Mineral Resources. “We’re on the verge of an explosive need for North American supply.”

Until the manganese market equivalent of a Big Bang occurs, though, this crucial yet underutilized mineral will remain in the ground.

In the meantime, other companies are eyeing manganese deposits elsewhere on the continent. The company Manganese X is looking to produce battery-grade manganese from a mine on the Maine/New Brunswick border; American Manganese Inc. is holding out on to plans to mine in Arizona. Those deposits are in the same boat as the motherlode in Minnesota.

“It comes down to one thing — can you produce an end product that is cost-effective?” said Manganese X President Martin Kepman. “That’s what you need.”

Long time coming

In the 1940s, geologists were furiously trying to find the missing link of iron ore they thought might connect Minnesota’s Mesabi and Cuyuna iron ranges.

They never found the iron connection. But when they were flying over this little Crow Wing County town with magnetic instruments, something curious showed up.

When they started digging holes, prospectors found manganese, and lots of it. Further exploration has confirmed what is the largest manganese deposit in the U.S. — at least 2 billion pounds and maybe as many as 10 billion or more.

That’s a big deal because manganese is an essential ingredient in many everyday products, including steel, aluminum, glass, paint and gasoline.

It’s becoming an even hotter commodity because manganese is a key ingredient in lithium batteries — the kind of batteries Tesla and other companies say will revolutionize energy storage and use.

Right now, the U.S. imports all of its manganese — 100 percent comes from places like South Africa, Australia, Brazil and China.

Efforts have been underway in Emily for a half-century to develop the manganese deposit. The vein itself has been known since at least 1910. But, so far, all attempts at establishing a mining operation have fallen flat.

Kinzer explained since the coop isn’t a mining company, they need to find one.

The ideal mining company will either have both the technical expertise and money for the project, or partner with an investor.

Early moves

For decades, Steve Carlton’s family owned the land, but in 2008 he sold it to Crow Wing Power, a small rural electric provider with 37,000 customer-members.

After buying the property, the company first planned on extracting the manganese with high-pressure water jets, but a demonstration project didn’t work. Now, the company is looking at underground mining rather than an open pit.

A promising development came in 2014, when the junior Canadian mining company Star Minerals Group — now known as Navis Resources Corp. — entered into an agreement to develop “a mine to market, manganese-based battery technology.” But since then, there has been no movement to follow through on those plans, and Navis officials did not return requests for comment.

“We were investing in a potential battery company that wasn’t ready,” Kinzer said.

Kinzer said that the company now has “a few years left of some due diligence that we’re waiting for investors to move on” so they can get to a complaint-based feasibility study, define the mining technique and start on a environmental impact statement.

As for manganese demand, it’s only likely to increase.

“It’s all dependant on that,” Kinzer said.

And if demand increases, so does the price of manganese.

Underappreciated

Though manganese is an essential part of steel production, it has historically been taken for granted if not downright underappreciated. Top-shelf analyst firms reached by the News Tribune had no research to share on the mineral; the industry news website Mining.com published a report last year titled “Manganese — the third electric vehicle metal no one is talking about.”

“It appears that manganese has been outshined by its two fellow EV metal counterparts,” cobalt and lithium, reads the report from Palisade Research. “We believe this situation will change quickly, as demand for manganese is set to outpace supply, especially for higher-grade materials found only in specific corners of the globe.”

The low cost and relative global abundance of the mineral has not caused a gold rush to the available supplies in North America, but this kind of outlook is why folks like Larry Reaugh are in the manganese business.

“Certainly, if somebody can bring into production some kind of manganese source, there would be a ready market,” said Reaugh, CEO of American Manganese Inc.

Whether it’s electric car batteries or solar energy-storing megabatteries — or a growth in steel production — American companies will continue to need manganese.

Bloomberg’s 2018 Electric Vehicle Outlook forecasts the number of electric vehicles worldwide to jump from 1.1 million in 2017 to 11 million by 2025 to 30 million in 2030.

Reaugh says his own mine project in Arizona remains on the shelf due to pricing, but that doesn’t mean it will sit there forever.

“It’s all about the price of the commodity. That’s how mining is. But it is going in the right direction.”

Majid Al Futtaim, a leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia – is supporting Dubai’s efforts to promote green transportation in the city by expanding its Electric Vehicle (EV) charging facility to City Centre Me’aisem this year.

After having successfully installed nine Tesla Destination Charging stations at Mall of the Emirates last year, Majid Al Futtaim will make it easier for early EV adopters to recharge their environmentally friendly vehicles with 4 designated charging spots at City Centre Me’aisem, as well.

“As Dubai forges ahead to create a smart, happy and eco-friendly city, we want to do our part by making it more convenient for residents who adopt a sustainable lifestyle and provide them with a memorable experience whenever they visit us.While they shop at their favourite stores, dine and take advantage of our leisure offerings, their cars can be docked at the designated spots to be fully powered up,” said Maryam Ahli, Mall Manager at City Centre Me’aisem.

This is a free service for mall visitors. The designated charging stations have been secured to allow only visitors with EVs to park.

Instructions on how to use the service are displayed at the stations. Customers who require further assistance can contact the traffic marshal available onsite.

The initiative is part of Majid Al Futtaim’s sustainability strategy, which includes brining innovations and convenient green solutions to its destinations to encourage the community to reduce their carbon footprint.