POWER September 2021 - 14

GLOBAL MONITOR
Battery manufacturers are spurring
rapid technology advancements, looking
at new materials in an effort to improve
energy density and efficiency, as well as
safety. Rick Luebbe, CEO and co-founder
of Group14 Technologies, told POWER
that his company specifically is about
" commercializing a silicon-carbon composite,
a lithium-silicon composite with
higher energy density, so that we can
improve the dollars per kilowatt hour, driving
[battery technology] toward cost parity
with internal combustion engines. A traditional
lithium-ion battery has used a graphite
anode, but the anode takes up roughly
60% of the energy volume. Our play is to
replace that old-style electrode with a silicon-carbon
composite with a much higher
capacity ... [to] shrink the size of the anode,
and put in a lot more cathode, and
increase the energy density. "
" We're focused on the electrification
of everything, " said Luebbe. " What we
bring to battery technology is much better
energy density. In virtually every application,
we can extend the runtime of
that application. "
Luebbe said Group14's construction of
a major U.S. manufacturing facility, and
its partnership with SK on a South Korean
factory, is about overcoming potential
supply chain disruptions-something
many industries have battled during the
global COVID-19 pandemic. " SK group
is one of the largest conglomerates in
Korea, " Luebbe said. " In the battery materials
space, they recognize that our
technology is important, based on performance
and the ability to scale quickly.
And it's about cooperation along the supply
chain. We and SK saw the need to put
a plant outside the U.S. Because one of
the target markets for us is EVs, and because
they [SK] demand dual-sourcing,
they have to have secure supply chains. "
" As one of the world's largest global
manufacturers, we recognize that we
must pre-emptively address potential
supply chain challenges to stay ahead
of the demand, " said Kiseon Park, vice
president of SK materials. " We are excited
to enter into a joint venture with the
Group14 team to bring a high-performing
battery material solution to market for
a wide range of applications within our
product portfolio and beyond. "
" We wanted to provide that second,
completely independent manufacturing
structure, " said Luebbe. " In this case, by
forming the joint venture, we established
that second-source capability. It enhances
our ability to get adopted for automotive
applications. " Luebbe said advancements
14
in battery technology for utility-scale energy
storage deployments depend on
factors not present in EV markets, which
could slow the pace of new technologies.
" I think [grid-scale] is going to be a little bit
behind EVs in terms of adoption " of new
technologies, he said. " It's hard to estimate
in the grid space ... you're really dependent
on the utilities for adoption. We
think the absolute key metric [for use] is
dollars per kilowatt hours, per cycle. Otherwise,
it's cheaper to re-generate power
later rather than save it. "
Luebbe said with growth in EVs expected
to be " pretty consistent between the
European market, the U.S., and Asia ... the
immediate exciting focus is EVs. What's
exciting from my perspective, the whole
lithium-ion market today is about a $45
billion industry. But if every car made last
year was an EV, it's $1 trillion. And I don't
think it's a question of whether all vehicles
will be electric, it's a matter of when. "
Luebbe said a " key imperative " for
manufacturers is " creating value in the
space, getting to cost parity, " and also
that " these new technologies need to
drop in to existing battery infrastructure.
There's really not enough time to go
back and retrofit. " He also said any battery
technology " has to be commercially
scalable, " and government support helps
the cause. " It's important for markets to
have their own domestic supply chains, "
he said, noting the disruptions caused by
the pandemic. " The best way to do that
is for the government to establish incentives
for battery supply chain initiatives. "
-Darrell Proctor is a senior associate
editor for POWER.
Energy Transition Facing
Potentially Debilitating Critical
Mineral Supply Gap
Building new solar PV plants and wind
farms, and supporting an expansion of
electric vehicles (EVs) and green hydrogen
as is planned to meet decarbonization
goals, will dramatically expand demand
for copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare
earth elements. But the supply of these
critical minerals is already fraught with
risks, and that is raising serious concerns
about their future availability.
According to the International Energy
Agency (IEA), at the core of this dilemma
is its assessment that the world's energy
system is rapidly morphing beyond
its traditional fuel-intensive emphasis
into a " material-intensive " system. But
while fuel commodities-such as the
hydrocarbon resources that have powered
the world for decades-continue
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to be carefully monitored and balanced,
little thought is given to the vast array
of mined minerals necessary to support
the required boom in clean energy. One
reason may be that they are difficult to
prioritize because the type and volume
of mineral needs vary widely across the
spectrum of clean energy technologies.
Solar PV. Mineral needs and intensities
for solar PV plants-which typically
comprise modules, inverters, trackers,
mounting structures, and general electrical
components-vary by module type.
Today's solar PV market is dominated
by crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules, followed
by the thin-film technologies that
use cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper
indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), and
amorphous silicon (a-Si). c-Si technologies
generally require about 5% silicon,
1% copper, and less than 0.1% of silver
and other metals. Thin-film technologies
require more glass but fewer minerals,
mainly cadmium, tellurium, indium, gallium,
and selenium. Distributed solar
PV systems, which tend to have string
inverters or microinverters, require 40%
more copper than utility-scale projects.
Combined, these requirements have
massive implications for future supply.
If the world moves to triple its solar PV
capacity by 2040 as the IEA has called
for under its " sustainable development
scenario " (SDS)-a scenario that meets
the goals of the Paris Agreement-it will
result in a " near-tripling " of its copper demand
and ramp up production of silicon
by 45% compared to 2020. The IEA, however,
is optimistic that further progress on
alternative technologies-including CdTe,
perovskite solar cell, and new semiconducting
materials-will counter current
mineral projections for c-Si modules.
Wind Turbines. Wind turbines, which
comprise a tower, a nacelle, rotors, and
a foundation, require concrete, steel, iron,
fiberglass, polymers, aluminum, copper,
zinc, and rare earth elements. While gearbox
double-fed induction generators dominate
more than 70% of the current wind
market, the rapid growth of direct-drive
permanent magnet synchronous generators
(DD-PMSGs), including for offshore
turbines, has prompted a scrambling for
neodymium and dysprosium. Under the
IEA's SDS, demand for the two elements
from the wind industry is set to more
than triple by 2040. Copper demand is
also slated to reach 600 kilotons (kt) per
year in 2040 because offshore wind outgrowth
will require more cabling.
Geothermal. Geothermal projects
rely on specialized steel, which is high
POWER | September 2021
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POWER September 2021

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