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Search results for: “LFP batteries”

  • Graphite: upgrade to premium?

    Graphite: upgrade to premium?

    Global graphite volumes grow 6x in the energy transition, mostly driven by electric vehicles. We see the industry moving away from Chinaโ€™s near-exclusive control. The future favors a handful of Western producers, integrated from mine to anode, with CO2 intensity below 10kg/kg. This 10-page note outlines the opportunity.

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  • Lithium from brines: the economics?

    Lithium from brines: the economics?

    This data-file approximates the costs of battery-grade lithium from brines, via traditional salars the emerging technology of direct lithium extraction. Costs are c40-60% lower than mined lithium in ($/ton of lithium carbonate equivalent). CO2 intensity is 50-80% lower (in kg/kg).

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  • Direct lithium extraction: ten grains of salt?

    Direct lithium extraction: ten grains of salt?

    Direct Lithium Extraction from brines could help lithium scale 30x in the Energy Transition; with costs and CO2 intensities 30-70% below mined lithium; while avoiding the 1-2 year time-lags of evaporative salars. This 15-page note reviews the top ten challenges that decision-makers need to de-risk.

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  • Wind and solar: cost of grid interconnection?

    Wind and solar: cost of grid interconnection?

    Cost of grid connection is shaping up to be a major bottleneck for the continued acceleration of new energies. A good baseline is to expect $100-300/kW of grid inter-connection costs, or $3-10/kW-km, over a typical distance of 10-70 km. But the requirement to fund network upgrade costs can push grid connections to cost more than…

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  • East to West: re-shoring the energy transition?

    East to West: re-shoring the energy transition?

    China is 18% of the worldโ€™s people and GDP. But it makes c50% of the worldโ€™s metals, 60% of its wind turbines, 70% of its solar panels and 80% of its lithium ion batteries. Re-shoring is likely to be a growing motivation after events of 2022. This 14-page note explores resultant opportunities.

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  • HVDC transmission: leading companies?

    HVDC transmission: leading companies?

    The global HVDC market is $10bn pa, and it might typically cost cโ‚ฌ100-600 M to connect a large and remote renewables project to the grid or run a small HVDC inter-connector. This data-file reviews the market leaders in HVDC, based on 5,500 patents. A dozen companies stand out, with c$40bn of combined revenues from power…

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  • Power transmission: inter-connectors smooth solar volatility?

    Power transmission: inter-connectors smooth solar volatility?

    Can large-scale power transmission smooth renewables’ volatility? To answer this question, this horrible 18MB data-file aggregates 20-years of hour-by-hour solar insolation arriving at four cities in the US. The volatility in year-by-year can be halved by a single inter-connector.

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  • Energy efficiency: an overview?

    Energy efficiency: an overview?

    This data-file is an overview of energy efficiency. The average power generation facility is c40% efficient. The average ICE is 20%. The average EV is 80%. The average industrial process is 85%. Some new energies have efficiency losses.

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  • Solar volatility: second by second output data?

    Solar volatility: second by second output data?

    We have aggregated the volatility and power drops across an entire year of second-by-second solar data. Each day typically sees 100 volatility events where output drops by over 10%, and 10 events where output drops by over 70 events. Volatility also varies day by day.

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  • Green hydrogen: can electrolysers run off renewables?

    Green hydrogen: can electrolysers run off renewables?

    What degradation rate is expected for a green hydrogen electrolyser, if it is powered by volatile wind and solar inputs? This 15-page note reviews past projects and technical papers. 5-10% pa degradation rates would raise green hydrogen costs by $1/kg. Avoiding degradation justifies higher capex, especially on power-electronics and even batteries?

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