I’m of the opinion a number of threads, forecasters and journalists/economists fail to take into account the changing fundamentals caused by ongoing geo-political tensions. This, along with electricity’s forecasted demand increase and efficiency requirements are where I believe graphite’s potential is rooted. I believe it only takes a brief look at the current geo-political climate to make an educated guess on the future demand for graphite.
Countries are already investing in energy storage. It almost completely resolves the intermittent issues renewable energy’s like wind and solar cause (see below paragraph and link: The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), not only that but it also adds to the efficiency of current base-load producers. They’ll no longer be required to power up or down, saving millions in wastage each year. They’ll be able to re-charge energy storage devices while we sleep and slowly release the saved power throughout the day. It’ll also mean fewer power plants are required for base-load supply because the batteries will be rundown during the day.
An interesting piece by the US Department Of Energy is below, I’ve noted some highlights;
http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/12/f5/Grid Energy Storage December 2013.pdf
Page 8, California is establishing 50MW of storage by 2021. Additionally they proposed procurement targets totalling 1325MW. Other states are following their example.
Page 10, Energy storage is poised to grow dramatically… The energy storage business could grow from $200m in 2012 to a $19b industry by 2017.
Page 15, China and India are also pursuing energy storage programs. In one example India is aggressively pursuing energy storage as a secure power resource for more than 300,000 telecom towers and announced a $40m contract in July 2013 for Li-ion battery energy storage.
Page 18, confirms Li-ion (as lead), sodium sulphur and lead acid as the most widely used. Li-ion has 15 installed storage facilities with a capacity over 1MW with the largest being 40MW (as at 2013).
SAFT already have large scale Li-ion batteries designed to regulate flow and assist storage capacity commercially available. The Germans are currently running a pilot program on Pellworm Island with 20MW of Li-ion installed capacity designed to act as a blueprint for a future decentralised energy system.
http://www.saftbatteries.com/press/press-releases/saft-megawatt-scale-li-ion-energy-storage-technology-help-make-eon’s-smart-grid
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology demonstrates a self-sufficient solar-Li-ion battery system that can release as and when required, on/off-peak.
http://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects/1292
Globally there are 295 Li-ion facilities with 78 being in Europe alone (as at 2013). The Europeans are looking to better manage their renewable energy surpluses and wean themselves off Russian fossil fuel dependence. Something made much more urgent of late with the German’s aiming for 70-80% of power production coming from renewables.
http://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects?utf8=✓&technology_type_sort_eqs=Lithium Ion Battery&technology_type_sort_eqs_category=Electrochemical&technology_type_sort_eqs_subcategory=Lithium Ion Battery&country_sort_eq=&state_sort_eq=&kW=&kWh=&service_use_case_inf=&ownership_model_eq=&status_eq=&siting_eq=&show_unapproved={}&order_by=&sort_order=&search_page=1&size_kw_ll=&size_kw_ul=&size_kwh_ll=&size_kwh_ul
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...enewables-future/story-fnay3ubk-1227039060594
Given electric vehicles require up to 70 kg of graphite per car battery with 300 tonnes required for a MW hr of electrical storage capacity, you quickly realise the scale of the multiples involved. http://www.breakawaydigger.com/Article Digger April 2014/Article 8 April.pdf
Australia alone has the potential for a commercially viable energy storage market of 3,000MW by 2030, thanks largely to the fringe networks of remote towns and mines. http://www.energetics.com.au/insigh...lectricity-storage-battery-solar-pv-renewable
It is my belief that while Electrical Vehicles will prove an important market, they are the mere tip of the iceberg. Energy Storage Devices, such a large scale Li-ion batteries are where the even larger growth potential for graphite will come from. Every major country (see U.S D.O.E attachment) is investing in some form, and in deed multiple forms, of Energy Storage Devices. Furthermore, a good portion of this technology is proven or being proved as we speak and rolled out. A modern government will never allow their people to run afoul of an energy-hording-country. I would suggest that we’ll see a number of large scale Energy Storage programs approved in the coming 3-6-12 months with rollouts within 1-2-5 years.
