Poland Is Now Taking On China In Cathode Production

Inside the heart of a battery Paul Markillie Innovation editor It is not unusual for a section of a factory to be off limits to visitors, or subject to high levels of security, usually because what goes on there is part of a firm’s secret sauce. Surrendering my phone and other items was just the first step as I entered a giant new manufacturing complex at Nysa in south-west Poland. Further checks followed as I ventured deeper inside. The Nysa plant makes cathode materials, which form the most critical component in the lithium-ion batteries powering most electric vehicles (EVs). The factory, together with a new plant being built next door, could eventually supply enough of this material for 3m EVs a year. China has dominated cathode production. The Nysa plant, owned by Umicore, a Brussels-based group, is the first to make these materials at scale in Europe. Batteries are essential for decarbonising transport, but will also help deal with the intermittent nature of renewable power from solar energy and wind by storing electricity on the grid or at home. Yet, as our story in the Science section this week shows, battery technology is in a state of flux. With EV sales slowing in some places, carmakers are keen to attract buyers with cheaper and more powerful batteries. As a result, many battery chemistries are emerging, each needing a different concoction of materials and elements for their cathodes. Nysa has flexible manufacturing techniques so that it can respond quickly to changes in the market. At present the main raw material entering the plant is lithium, which is blended with various combinations of nickel, manganese and cobalt to produce so-called NMC battery cells. Most carmakers are trying to use less cobalt, or eliminate it. It is expensive, toxic and rare. (For more on the cobalt industry, read our story on the millennial who witnessed its horrors in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is now building America’s first cobalt-nickel refinery.) Lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) cells are cheaper than NMC battery cells, but they have a lower energy density. In some cases that might not matter; LFP batteries are popular with urban motorists in China, who tend to make short journeys. Another alternative is to replace lithium with sodium, which is cheap and easy to obtain, but heavier. Sodium batteries are starting to enter production, but again provide a lower level of performance. They could find a big market in grid storage, where weight is less of a problem. At the other end of the scale, powerful and lightweight solid-state lithium batteries may soon be available. These could double the range of existing EVs and cut recharging times to a few minutes. But they will be expensive and will initially be used only in luxury and sports cars. Other new battery chemistries are also emerging from the labs. How all this works out will partly depend on commodity prices. Those prices will in turn be affected by new battery chemistries. Sodium, for example, could reduce demand for lithium, nickel and cobalt. Recycling will play its part, too, as battery-makers get an increasing amount of their raw materials from old EVs. Flexibility is going to be important in the battery industry. Thanks for reading this edition of the Climate Issue. If you have any feedback, you can reach us here: climateissue@economist.com.