Market Intelligence Report

ENERGY STORAGE, GRID, and EFFICIENCY

April 3, 2023

Category Title Link

Industry News Energy Efficiency Companies Raised $50 Million in Debt and Public Market Financing in 2022 https://tinyurl.com/mercomSGQ42022

Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, Efficiency Debt & Public Market Financing
released its report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the 2018-2022
global Energy Storage, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency sectors for the Annual 600 2.5

and Q4 2022.
500
2
In 2022, debt and public market financing announced by energy efficiency 400
companies decreased with $50 million in one deal compared to $343 million in one 1.5

deal in 2021. Source: Mercom Capital Group, Jan 2023 300

1
200

0.5
Click here to purchase a copy of 100

Energy Storage, Smart Grid and Efficiency Q4 and Annual 2022 0 0

Funding and M&A Report 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
https://tinyurl.com/mercomSGQ42022 Disclosed Amount ($M) No. of Deals
Source: Mercom Capital Group

Industry News US, Japan Strike Trade Deal on Critical Minerals for EV Batteries https://tinyurl.com/mercomusjp

Close on the heels of a similar agreement with the European Union, the United States and Japan have agreed on a trade deal for critical minerals used in
clean energy technologies. The agreement is intended to help Japan meet sourcing requirements for new electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in the U.S. and reduce
reliance on China for strategic resources.
The agreement includes refraining from imposing export duties on key rare earth minerals like lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite and sharing
information on potential labor violations in the supply chain. “Today’s announcement is proof of President Biden’s commitment to building resilient and secure
supply chains,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “Japan is one of our most valued trading partners and this agreement will enable us to deepen our existing
bilateral relationship. This is a welcome moment as the United States continues to work with our allies and partners to strengthen supply chains for critical
minerals, including through the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. and EU agreed on immediately beginning negotiations on a deal on critical minerals used in the EV battery supply chain. The EU
had earlier criticized the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as protectionist. The U.S.-Japan agreement also aims to address non-market policies and practices of
other countries affecting trade in critical minerals and practices regarding reviewing investments in the minerals sector by foreign entities.

The Biden administration is exploring minerals-focused trade deals to grant access to trusted allies to the $7,500 per vehicle EV tax credits established in IRA.
Under the current rules, half of the tax credit for purchasing consumers is reserved for North American-assembled vehicles and batteries. This provision has
created significant tension with the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, who fear that their car and battery manufacturers will become uncompetitive.

The other half of the tax credit depends on the critical minerals used in the battery’s production. Specifically, at least 40% of the critical mineral value in the
battery must have been extracted or processed in the U.S. or a country with a U.S. free trade agreement or recycled in North America.
Source: Mercom Clean Energy Insights, Mar 29

Industry News US Battery Sourcing Guidance to Cut Some EV Tax Credits https://tinyurl.com/mercomaev

The U.S. Treasury Department's long-awaited guidance on battery sourcing requirements for electric vehicle tax credits due out by Friday will result in fewer
vehicles getting full or partial credits, a U.S. official told Reuters. In December, Treasury decided not to issue the proposed guidance on battery sourcing rules
until March, effectively giving some EVs not meeting new requirements a few months of eligibility in 2023 before the rules take effect. That was sharply
criticized by Senate Energy Committee chair Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
The Biden administration believes that over time the tax credit will result in more EVs sold as automakers revamp supply chains to meet critical mineral and
battery component rules, the official said. It is not immediately clear when or how many EVs will lose tax credits or see them cut. White House adviser John
Podesta at a conference on Tuesday said the guidance will be issued by Friday after noting the administration missed the Dec. 31 deadline set under the law.
"It's complicated," Podesta said.
The EV credit requires 50% of the value of battery components to be produced or assembled in North America to qualify for $3,750 of the credit and 40% of
the value of critical minerals sourced from the United States or a country with which it has a free trade agreement. Those rise by 10 percentage points
annually. Auto industry officials say the guidance must answer complex questions about how to classify minerals and components.
The United States and Japan recently signed a trade deal on EV battery minerals, which will grant Japanese automakers wider access to a new $7,500 U.S.
EV tax credit. Treasury said in December it would define key terms like processing, extraction, recycling and what constitutes a free trade deal. Electric
vehicles must be assembled in North America to qualify for any credit.
The rules, part of a $430 billion climate bill approved in August, are aimed at weaning the United States off dependence on China, which dominates the global
supply chains of products like EV batteries and solar panels. In early February, Treasury said it would make more Tesla, Ford Motor, General Motors and
Volkswagen electric vehicles eligible for up to $7,500 tax credits after it revised its vehicle classification definitions. Some of those vehicles may see credits
decline after the battery guidance takes effect. Source: Reuters, Mar 29

Click here to purchase a copy of Energy Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency Q4 and Annual 2022 Funding and M&A Report - https://tinyurl.com/mercombsfr

Page 1 of 10
 Market Intelligence Report
ENERGY STORAGE, GRID, and EFFICIENCY
April 3, 2023

Category Title Link

Mercom India Renewables Summit 2023

Event https://tinyurl.com/mercommist
April 26-27 | New Delhi
The Mercom India Renewables Summit 2023 brings developers, manufacturers,
investors, innovators, and other key decision makers on one stage to discuss
plans and progress across the solar sector over the last year. It is India’s most
th th
prestigious solar event. The conference in 2023 will be held on April 26 & 27 at
the Hyatt Regency in New Delhi. Mercom will share its latest research findings and
insights and provide an in-depth look at India’s ever-expanding clean energy
market.

Delegates will deepen their understanding of what is needed from policy, key
stakeholders, research, and others to transform India into a net-zero emissions
energy system by 2050, including potential environmental and economic
implications. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay up-to-date with the latest global
trends and to better understand the future of the Indian clean energy sector at the
Mercom Renewables Summit 2023.

Click here to register for the summit: https://tinyurl.com/mercommist

Company News Tesla Pursues Building a New US Plant with China’s Dominant Battery Maker https://tinyurl.com/mercomtslact

Tesla is looking to build a battery plant in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter, in what would likely be a controversial arrangement with
China’s dominant electric-vehicle battery manufacturer. The EV maker discussed plans involving Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL). with the White
House in recent days, said the people, who asked not to be identified revealing private conversations.
Tesla representatives sought clarity on the Inflation Reduction Act rules that the Biden administration is finalizing this week, according to some of the people.
Rohan Patel, the company’s senior global director of public policy, was among those involved with the discussions, one of the people said. Tesla wants to
pursue a deal similar to one that Ford Motors announced last month in Michigan with the battery maker, known as CATL, to construct a plant wholly owned by
the US automaker, according to the people. Representatives of Tesla, CATL and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Patel
also didn’t respond.
Tesla is in expansion mode, deploying its $22 billion in cash to crank up production volumes and lower costs as it faces increased competition. CATL, which
makes lithium iron phosphate batteries, a chemistry that is cheaper than the nickel-based batteries used in the West, is key to that plan.
The automaker is considering building the battery plant in Texas to supply its EV assembly plant there, though a location hasn’t been finalized, some of the
people said. Like the Ford deal structure, Tesla would own and operate the factory while licensing the technology from CATL. The auto industry has been
lobbying to influence how the US Treasury Department will interpret requirements in President Joe Biden’s signature climate package. The law is intended to
wean the US off its dependence on China for battery materials by incentivizing a US-based supply chain for EVs. One specific clause that has been the object
of intense lobbying is 30D, which is designed to withhold consumer tax credits for EVs made with a certain amount of China-linked materials in their batteries.
Ford’s deal has provoked ire from lawmakers including Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who
argue that it allows the Chinese company to benefit from US subsidies. Ford has said CATL wouldn’t receive any US tax dollars from the deal. Barclays Plc
analyst Dan Levy said in a research note that Tesla may get some political pushback to a deal with CATL, similar to what Ford has seen.
Source: Bloomberg, Mar 30
Shell Partners With Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group to
Project News https://tinyurl.com/mercomgish
Deliver 200 MW/400 MWh Battery Storage System in Australia
Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group (GIG) and Shell Energy Operations (Shell Energy) are partnering to deliver a utility-scale battery
energy storage system (BESS) in Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia. Once fully operational, the 200 MW/400 MWh Rangebank BESS will have the storage
capacity to power the equivalent of 80,000 homes across Victoria for an hour during peak periods.
The project, to be built on two hectares of land within the Rangebank Business Park in Melbourne’s southeast, has reached a financial close and is expected
to be completed in late 2024. Developed by GIG and Shell Energy, the project will increase Victoria’s renewable energy hosting capacity while providing
essential system services aiming to support the safe, secure, and reliable operation of Australia’s power system. Through an offtake agreement, Shell Energy
will have access to 100% of the battery’s offtake over a 20-year period. Source: GIG, Mar 31

Industry News China’s New Energy Storage Capacity is Expected to Surpass 50 GW by 2025 https://tinyurl.com/mercomchbtt

China is expected to have a total new energy storage capacity of more than 50 GW by 2025, according to a report released recently, as the country expects
energy storage to boost renewable energy consumption while ensuring a stable power supply. China’s installed capacity of renewable energy reached 760 GW
in 2022, a 20 per cent rise year on year, according to Dai Jianfeng, an engineer at the China Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute (CEPPEI), a
Beijing-based consultancy under state-owned China Energy Engineering Group.
“The safe and reliable operation of the power system is becoming even more [of a priority]. Against this background, the demand for new energy storage, as an
important technology supporting the construction of the new power system, will become even stronger,” he said at a forum in Beijing last weekend. New energy
storage refers to electricity storage processes that use emerging technologies such as compressed air, flywheels and electrochemical rather than traditional
pumped hydro storage.
Compared with pumped storage, which uses water behind dams to store energy and generate electricity when needed, new energy storage is more flexible
when it comes to site selection, and has other advantages, including short construction periods, faster and flexible response and more diverse functions. It also
plays a crucial role in renewable power systems by ensuring a stable supply of power generated from intermittent and variable wind and solar sources.
China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, wants to develop a new power system that features a higher proportion of renewable energy
resources, such as wind and solar, to support the country’s goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by the end of this decade and net-zero emissions by 2060.
The government has also set goals of at least 1,200 GW of solar and wind generation capacity by 2030, and at least 80 per cent of its total energy mix coming
from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060.

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 Market Intelligence Report
ENERGY STORAGE, GRID, and EFFICIENCY
April 3, 2023

Category Title Link

Continued China’s New Energy Storage Capacity is Expected to Surpass 50 GW by 2025 https://tinyurl.com/mercomchbtt

By the end of last year, China already had a total new energy storage capacity of 8.7GW, a more than 110 per cent increase year on year, Liu Yafang, an
official at the National Energy Administration (NEA), said at the forum last weekend. Lithium-ion battery storage plays a dominant role, accounting for 94.5 per
cent of all new energy storage capacity in operation, according to CEPPEI’s Dai. However, the country’s development of new energy storage is still in the early
stages, as the industry chains for other technologies such as sodium-ion batteries, compressed air storage and carbon-dioxide battery storage were still in their
infancy.
“New energy storage has a wide range of uses and rich application scenarios,” Dai said. “Under the existing electricity price mechanism, the value created by
new energy storage is not fully reflected, which in turn affects the investment benefits of new energy storage projects.” He suggested further improvements in
the price mechanism would provide certain support for the commercialization of new energy storage technologies, and entice more power companies to
participate. A price mechanism is already in the making, the NEA said on its website last month. It will establish a set of policies, standards, and auxiliary
services to support energy storage projects’ commercialization.
To speed up the evolution, it is also crucial to cultivate the new energy storage industry from a market-oriented approach, rather than relying on government
polices, said Kevin Shang, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “Achieving a sustainable business model and building a healthy ecosystem for new
energy storage projects to function effectively will benefit the industry in the long run, rather than just meeting renewable-paring policy requirements and
standing idle,” he said. Source: South China Morning Post, Mar 30

Company News China's Nio Opens Trial for High-Speed EV Battery Swapping Stations https://tinyurl.com/mercomniob

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio began trial operation recently for faster, more efficient battery swapping stations in China in its push to make battery
swapping a viable alternative to rival EV makers' rapid-charging technology. With capacity to store up to 21 battery packs each, Nio's Power Swap Station 3.0
can speed up battery swapping to less than five minutes and lower the service cost per swap, Shen Fei, Nio senior vice president for power management, told
reporters at an event in Shanghai.
Tesla's rapid-charging Supercharger allows EV users to top up vehicles to a range of 200 miles in 15 minutes. Battery swapping allows drivers to replace
depleted packs quickly with fully charged packs, rather than plugging the vehicle in to a charging point. Swapping could help to ease the strain on power grids
at peak times when drivers recharge, but industry analysts and executives expect it would only become feasible if batteries become more standardized.
Nio is among only a handful of EV makers betting on battery swapping as a major power option for electric cars. Rival Tesla has dismissed battery swapping
as "riddled with problems and not suitable for widescale use". Nio, which has set a target of 2,300 battery swapping stations globally by year-end, had 1,323 in
operation as of March 23, Shen said. It aims for 900 of the latest power swap stations to be operating this year, he added.
Nearly 60% of the power replenished for Nio cars in February was via battery swapping, while another 23% was from home chargers, Shen said. Fewer than
10% of Nio users used public chargers while 80.5% of the power charged from Nio's 14,000 chargers nationwide was for non-Nio users, including Tesla and
BYD vehicles, he added. Source: Reuters, Mar 28

Industry News The Paper-Thin Steel Needed to Power Electric Cars is in Short Supply https://tinyurl.com/mercomwsjpt

Large U.S. steelmakers are ramping up production of a hard-to-make, paper-thin steel to capture a fast-growing market for a material critical to powering
electric vehicles. Cleveland-Cliffs increase; green up pointing triangle and U.S. Steel Corp; green up pointing triangle are jockeying with a small group of
foreign-based steelmakers that produce electrical steel, used to convert electricity into mechanical power for motors in products that include washing
machines, air conditioners, power tools and more recently, electric vehicles.
Such electrical steel, which accounts for about 1% of all the steel produced annually in the world, already is in short supply for electric vehicles, executives
said. Companies expect demand to accelerate faster than production as EV volumes expand in the coming years. “It’s in limited supply and with very long lead
times. Sometimes 50 or 52 weeks,” said Hale Foote, owner of Scandic Springs Inc., a San Leandro, Calif., company that uses high-grade electrical steel to
make parts for scientific measurement devices.
Supply chains for making battery-powered electric vehicles have become a flashpoint for the U.S. auto industry as production pivots away from internal-
combustion engines. Raw materials used to make batteries, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium, mostly have come from overseas along with anodes, cathodes
and other battery components. The Biden administration is spending $2.8 billion as part of 2021’s federal infrastructure legislation to help expand domestic
manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the electrical grid.

Stock 2023 YTD Stock Performance of Select Energy Storage and Smart Grid Companies

2023 YTD Stock Performance of Select Energy Storage and Smart Grid Companies
73.6% 74.2% Stock Price: Jan 01, 2023 - Mar 31, 2023

44.3% 36.6%
27.9%
Percent Change

18.3% 18.1% 16.4% 17.6%

9.9% 9.5%
9.3% 4.2% 2.5% 1.6%

-2.3% -5.3% -6.4%

-19.4% -21.1%
-36.6%

-59.7%
Redflow

Fluence Energy

Bloom Energy

EVgo
QuantumScape

Ballard Power Systems

Zinc8 Energy Solutions

Blink Charging
Livent

SES

Wallbox
Stem

Alarm.com
FuelCell Energy

Ideal Power

Plug Power

Proterra

Schneider Electric
Eos Energy Storage

Li-Cycle

Itron
ChargePoint Holdings

Energy Storage Smart Grid/Home & Building Automation

Source: Mercom Capital Group

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ENERGY STORAGE, GRID, and EFFICIENCY
April 3, 2023

Category Title Link

Continued The Paper-Thin Steel Needed to Power Electric Cars is in Short Supply https://tinyurl.com/mercomwsjpt

More than 80% of the electrical steel produced comes from China, Japan and South Korea, all countries that are subject to U.S. tariffs or quotas on steel
imports, industry analysts said. Electrical steel, which contains silicon, is stamped into precisely shaped pieces that are stacked on top of each other like a
deck of cards to create thick laminates that make the cores of rotating electric motors. The slow, exacting process required to melt, cast and roll electrical
steel, which can be less than a quarter of a millimeter thick for the highest grade, holds down production volumes and dissuades many steel companies from
making it, executives said.
“It takes intense focus. You have to have absolute consistency or you scrap the material,” said David Stickler, who led the investment group that built Big River
Steel in Osceola, Ark., and then sold the mill to U.S. Steel in 2021. Mr. Stickler said he envisioned electrical steel being a core product at Big River when he
started planning the mill nearly a decade ago. High-grade electrical steel used in electric-car motors sells for $2,400 to $2,800 a ton, compared with about
$1,100 for commodity-type hot-rolled sheet steel, according to analysts
The electrical steel core of an auto motor costs $200 to $400, analysts said, depending on the performance characteristics of the motor and the size of the
vehicle. The higher the quality of the electrical steel in the motor, the more efficient the motor will be at moving the vehicle, which extends the mileage range of
a vehicle’s battery.
Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest supplier of steel to the U.S. automotive industry, produces electrical steel at a plant in Butler, Pa. Now, the Cleveland-based
company is spending more than $30 million to restart an idle electrical-steel rolling line at its Zanesville, Ohio, mill that will produce additional electrical steel for
auto motors. The company acquired its electrical-steel business in 2020 when it bought Ohio-based AK Steel Holdings Corp., whose predecessor company
pioneered the process for making electrical steel in the early 20th century. “We’re going to go through shortages,” said Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of
Cleveland-Cliffs. “Shortages generate higher prices.”
U.S. Steel said it intends to start producing electrical steel later this year at its Big River mill. The company said it spent about $450 million to build the electrical-
steel production line after acquiring the mill, and projects it will be able to make about 200,000 tons of electrical steel annually. “We have a customer base that
is very eager for us to get into this product,” said Rob Kopf, U.S. Steel’s vice president of sales and marketing.
Supplies of the highest-quality electrical steel needed for automotive motors are expected to become particularly tight. Metals Technology Consulting Inc.
forecasts global demand for high-grade electrical steel to reach 2.8 million metric tons by 2027, about 300,000 metric tons more than the global supply, unless
more production capacity for high-grade electrical steel is added. The Illinois-based firm expects demand to outpace supply by about one million metric tons a
year by the end of the decade without a significant increase in the supply.
In North America, which already relies on imports of electrical steel, demand for high-grade electrical steel is expected to reach nearly 780,000 tons by the end
of the decade. Metals Technology forecasts the U.S. supply of high-grade electrical steel at roughly 116,000 tons by 2024. Industry analysts expect supplies of
lower-grade electrical steel for motors in appliances and other consumer products to remain adequate in the coming years, because that steel is easier to
make than the steel cores for higher-performance motors in electric vehicles.
Steel-industry executives said that creating more domestic capacity to make electrical steel for vehicles will likely take years, as steel companies acquire
equipment and become proficient at the exacting production process. “You can’t just buy the equipment and start making electrical steel. Those who’ve made
the investment will have an advantage for the next five to 10 years,” Mr. Stickler said.
Cleveland-Cliffs said it expects to produce about 300,000 tons of electrical steel annually between its two mills, with most of that output going for electrical
transformers. Mr. Goncalves said he expects Cleveland-Cliffs’s initial production capacity for automotive electrical steel to be about 50,000 tons annually. “I’m
not going to make a wild bet on more until I have certainty about the pace of electrification,” he said. Source: WSJ, Mar 27

Industry News Germany’s Grid-Scale BESS Installs up 910% But Still Under Half a Gigawatt in 2022 https://tinyurl.com/mercomgrmi

Germany’s installed based of large-scale energy storage facilities is predicted to roughly double in the next couple of years, after 2022 saw a comeback for the
segment. After a few consecutive years of declining in size, Germany’s utility-scale energy storage market saw a record 434 MW/467 MWh deployed during
2022, a record figure, according to a market review published by a consortium including experts at RWTH Aachen Technical University.
In the latest edition in an annual series, last year the Estimated Stationary and Mobile Battery Storage Market in Germany
researchers found that in 2021, the residential segment
continued to lead the market but a renaissance in the
underperforming large-scale systems segment (defined as
over 1,000 MWh energy capacity) was forecast for 2022. The
residential segment still dwarfs large-scale market share
however: in 2021, 145,000 household systems totaling 739
MW/1,268 MWh were installed, compared to 1,164 MW/1,944
MWh of new residential installations in 2022 across about
200,000 homes. That represents 52% growth year-on-year in
energy terms and 60% growth in power output for residential,
defined for the purpose of the study as projects below 30kWh
capacity.
Commercial and industrial (C&I) systems of between 30 kWh
to 1MWh capacity were a distant third by comparison to the
other segments in 2022, with just 43 MW/84 MWh of systems
approximated to have been installed, albeit it has also grown
from the 27MW/57MWh recorded in 2021. The report’s
authors said cumulative installs for grid-scale projects reached
1,072 MW/1,204 MWh by the end of 2022, across 149 large-
scale storage assets. Source: IESA RWTH Aachen

However, from adding up publicly announced projects alone, a further 1,123 MW/1,414 MWh could be installed within the next two to three years. Unlike other
advanced markets for utility-scale BESS where a wave of smaller sub-10 MW projects leads to later waves of projects twice or even ten times as large, project
sizes in Germany remain relatively small. Around 77% are below 10 MWh, although the authors noted that multiple projects of over 200 MWh are announced
for future deployment.

Click here to purchase a copy of Energy Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency Q4 and Annual 2022 Funding and M&A Report - https://tinyurl.com/mercombsfr

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ENERGY STORAGE, GRID, and EFFICIENCY
April 3, 2023

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Continued Germany’s Grid-Scale BESS Installs up 910% But Still Under Half a Gigawatt in 2022 https://tinyurl.com/mercomgrmi

Evolving applications for Germany’s grid-scale BESS

The use cases for large-scale storage systems in Germany are beginning to shift. Ancillary services still remain the main application, with around
658MW/750MWh of energy storage built for this purpose to date. However, while prior to 2019, almost all large-scale performed frequency containment
reserve (FCR) exclusively, saturation in that market led to declining prices paid by grid operators and a corresponding slowdown in the market to 2021.
Today’s energy market, characterised by high prices across the board, mean Germany’s FCR prices are again attractive enough for energy storage. This is not
expected to last and increasingly, the recently introduced automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR) market which is estimated to be three to four times
bigger in size than FCR is becoming an attractive option.
Large-scale energy storage used for renewable energy integration is also on the rise, with about 200MW/250MWh in operation today and 700MWh more
projects announced. This is driven partly by the introduction of so-called ‘Innovation Tenders’ by the regulatory Bundesnetzagentur, which award contracts to
projects that combine two forms of clean energy technology. This has led to a growth in mostly solar-plus-storage projects, with only one wind-plus-storage
project winning through such an auction to date.
On a related note, this week the Bundesnetzagentur increased the maximum feed-in tariff (FiT) that PV-plus-storage projects can get through the Innovation
Tenders by 25% from previous auction rounds, to 9,18ct/kWh (~$0.995/kWh). This has come after a recent auction round was severely undersubscribed.
There are also 130 MW/150 MWh of BESS in what the report called multi-use operation, where assets are combining functions such as behind-the-meter peak
shaving with ancillary services. Other use cases include 50 MW/50 MWh of large-scale storage in operation at large industrial sites and a very small wedge of
others such as EV charge stations.
The final other use case highlighted by the report has drawn some interest from the global energy storage industry for its application of energy storage as a
transmission asset: Germany’s transmission system operator (TSO) ‘GridBooster’ projects. There are 450 MW/450 MWh of these planned as pilots, including
the 250 MW contract awarded to global technology provider Fluence by TSO Transnet. The GridBoosters essentially add N-1 redundancy to transmission
lines, reducing the TSOs’ need to invest in expensive grid infrastructure with the BESS assets helping to increase the network’s carrying capacity.
The pilots are expected to come online in the next three years and their sole application will be as grid management resources. Again, as with the Innovation
Tenders, there has been some recent news about GridBoosters, with TSOs including requests to get a further tranche of such projects approved in long-term
planning proposals filed with regulators this month. Source: Energy Storage News, IESA RWTH Aachen, Mar 30

Industry News Lithium Carbonate Prices Plummet by Around 50% in Q1 2023 https://tinyurl.com/mercomltpr

• Lithium Carbonate, one of the most sought-after raw

materials for battery production, has seen a substantial price
decline in Q1 2023. Lithium carbonate prices were trading for
around $73,500/mt in January, which dropped to about
$34,600/mt by the end of March, a fall of approximately 50%.
• A steep decline in Electric Vehicle (EV) sales in leading
markets like Europe and China due to the expiration of
government subsidies is one possible reason for this sharp
decline.
• Reports suggest that CATL, one of the largest battery
manufacturers, has started offering discounts, helping EV
manufacturers procure parts for cheaper. As a result, many
leading manufacturers like Tesla and Ford have begun
slashing their electric vehicle prices.
• Prices of other Battery Materials, such as cobalt, have decreased by around 29%; Nickel has decreased by about 20%, and Manganese has decreased by
3%.
• Surprisingly, Copper, another major material used in EVs, has seen a price increase of around 8.5%.
Source: Trading Economics, Shanghai Metal Markets, Reuters, New York Times, Mar 2023

Lithium Carbonate
99.5% Li2CO3 min, Battery Grade
80,000
75,000
70,000
65,000
Price in US$

60,000
55,000
50,000
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
3-Jan-23

6-Jan-23

9-Jan-23

12-Jan-23

15-Jan-23

18-Jan-23

21-Jan-23

24-Jan-23

27-Jan-23

30-Jan-23

2-Feb-23

5-Feb-23

8-Feb-23

11-Feb-23

14-Feb-23

17-Feb-23

20-Feb-23

23-Feb-23

26-Feb-23

1-Mar-23

4-Mar-23

7-Mar-23

10-Mar-23

13-Mar-23

16-Mar-23

19-Mar-23

22-Mar-23

25-Mar-23

28-Mar-23

31-Mar-23

Source: Mercom Capital Group

Click here to purchase a copy of Energy Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency Q4 and Annual 2022 Funding and M&A Report - https://tinyurl.com/mercombsfr

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Industry News Public EV Charging Market in North America on Track for Rapid Growth https://tinyurl.com/mercomwdev

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption continues to rise, the market

for public charging networks in North America is forecast to
grow rapidly by 2050. The number of DC fast-chargers
(DCFC), which have a charge rate between 50 kilowatt (kW)
and 350 kW, is expected to grow more than sixtyfold between
2022 and 2050. Level 2 chargers, with a slower charge rate
between 3 kW and 19 kW, are also set to increase thirtyfold in
the same timeframe.
Nick Esch, Research Analyst, Grid Edge at Wood Mackenzie,
said: “The role of public EV charging networks is crucial to
provide a reliable and seamless charging experience as EV
adoption continues to accelerate in the US. We are seeing
collaboration and integrations among EV charging networks
both old and new, as well as significant local and federal
policy support, and investment across the public charging
market.” Source: Wood Mackenzie

There are currently 73 active EV public charging networks in the US and Canada, which span across seven different network types, with many more entrants
expected to join the market, according to Wood Mackenzie’s findings. Amaiya Khardenavis, Analyst, EV Charging Infrastructure at Wood Mackenzie, said:
“Gas stations, quick service restaurants, and convenience stores with existing locations are in the early stages of deploying public charging infrastructure as
they look to capitalize on their existing retail footprint, as well as EV adoption.”
“The growth strategy of charging networks is focused on building their footprint in high-traffic locations, setting up roaming agreements with other networks,
and installing high-power charging infrastructure to future-proof their sites,” Khardenavis added.
“A few networks with established footprints dominate the fast-charging landscape in the US and Canada, such as Tesla. They are followed by emerging
networks that are established in regional markets with intentions to grow their reach to new markets,” Esch added. Tesla leads the way with its fast-charging
‘Supercharger’ network in terms of total DCFC ports (17,408) and ports per station ratio of 10.5, making it the largest fast-charging network in North America.
Followed by ChargePoint, EVgo and Electrify America, the three largest public fast-charging networks in the US, each with chargers in the vast majority of
states and around population centres or highway cooridors.
ChargePoint dominates level 2 charging in the US
ChargePoint has the largest footprint of level 2 charging
stations in the US, with robust coverage in nearly every major
metropolitan region, with over 48,000 charging ports. Followed
by the Tesla Destination network which has the second
largest network by ports and footprint, with more than 12,500
ports.
The fifth largest network Blink acquired SemaConnect (third
largest network) in the second quarter of 2022, and now has a
combined network of more than 10,000 ports. PowerFlex is
the fourth largest Level 2 network, primarily in California.
According to Wood Mackenzie’s findings, there are 19 utility-
owned EV charging networks operating in North America.
Among all utility-owned chargers in North America, Canadian
utilities account for 55% of level 2 ports and 69% of DCFC
ports. Source: Wood Mackenzie

“While US utilities have initiated investments in public charging, their scope is restricted in size and locations where chargers can be installed is limited by
regulators. Canadian utilities have launched province-wide networks that outsize their private competitors,” Khardenavis added.
EV Automakers Have Emerged as Key Players in Public Charging
Automakers are starting to focus on providing vehicle owners access to reliable public charging, by exploring partnerships with charging infrastructure
developers or through direct investments in the deployment of chargers. For instance, General Motors partnered with EVgo to install 3,250 DCFCs in cities and
suburbs. The company also announced plans to deploy 2,000 EVgo charging ports along Pilot and Flying J travel centers.
In collaboration with ChargePoint and MN8 Energy, Mercedes has committed to installing over 2,500 charging ports at over 400 locations in North America.
“Since the public EV charging space is highly fractionalized, EV automakers are aiming to own the customer relationship after the point of sale and play a
larger role in public EV charging. Many are taking on the e-mobility service provider role, facilitating payments and navigation to chargers while also curating
charging networks for their customers through integrations with public charging networks,” Khardenavis added. Source: Wood Mackenzie, Mar 2023

Industry News Nickel Revolution Has Indonesia Chasing Battery Riches Tinged With Risk https://tinyurl.com/mercomnckl

Obi, among hundreds of scattered spice islands in the Maluku archipelago, is an unlikely spot for a metal market convulsion. Only the northern part of this
island gets power from the state utility. It’s home mostly to fishermen and coconut farmers. Harita Nickel’s sprawling complex of processing machinery and
conveyor belts tells a different story.
One of a new breed of nickel producers, backed by Chinese know-how and cash, it’s using the latest generation of a method known as high-pressure acid
leaching, or HPAL, to turn Indonesia's low-grade ore into metal fit to power a Tesla car. Success would have dramatic implications far beyond the Southeast
Asian nation, where President Joko Widodo has put the world’s largest nickel reserves at the forefront of an ambitious plan to transform the economy into a
key player in the electric-vehicle supply chain.
The new HPAL projects, and the surge of inexpensive metal from a country whose deposits have long been unloved by major producers, could push the
market into oversupply. Within two years, Indonesia could supply 65% of the world’s nickel, up from 30% in 2020, Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates. With so
much metal outside the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai exchange, Indonesia threatens to upend even nickel pricing benchmarks.

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Continued Nickel Revolution Has Indonesia Chasing Battery Riches Tinged With Risk https://tinyurl.com/mercomnckl

And this giant chemistry experiment comes with environmental consequences. Compared with more traditional methods, HPAL produces nearly double the
amount of tailings that need to be treated and stored, raising the risk of severe contamination as all sides rush to capture battery spoils. The power to process
this green ingredient still mostly comes from coal.
Two years ago, workers in Obi — two flights and a three-hour ferry ride from Jakarta — rolled a nearly 1,000-ton pressure cooker-like machine down a red dirt
path. A team filled it with ore and sulfuric acid and waited. A liquid emerged in a startling blue-green: the color of oxidized nickel and confirmation of a dramatic
change in the world’s production of a key metal for batteries. Harita Nickel, working with Ningbo Lygend Mining Co., had become the first to turn ore into mixed
hydroxide precipitate or MHP, a form of nickel that can be further refined into batteries. It has since become the first in Indonesia to process that intermediate
product into nickel sulfate, another step up in the value chain.
The Obi island operation is now one of three producing HPAL outfits, and more are in the pipeline, with nearly $20 billion of further projects announced. Next
month, Harita plans to go public on the Jakarta exchange. Shares have been priced at the top of the range, giving it a market value of more than $5 billion.
Until this new generation, HPAL was known mostly for cost overruns and delays. Mining giant Vale SA experienced both before opening its plant in Goro, New
Caledonia, in 2010; it’s never produced beyond 70% capacity. Chemical spills and protests by pro-independence activists in the French territory disrupted
production, and Vale eventually sold its stake.
This time, Harita says, is different — thanks to China. “China has done with HPAL in Indonesia what they did with nickel pig iron in China 20 years ago,” said
Angela Durrant, principal nickel analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. “It’s like teaching a child something new again and again — and suddenly they get it. Then
they run with it, they catapult onward. This is what Indonesia is doing with China’s technology.”
Apart from Harita’s operation, other new arrivals include a venture combining Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., CMOC Group and Tsingshan Holding Group Co. —
Huayue Nickel Cobalt — which has built a $1.6 billion plant on the island of Sulawesi. GEM Co. has backed a separate $1.6 billion facility nearby, QMB New
Energy Materials, with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd’s Brunp unit and Tsingshan again.
The world’s largest nickel producer, Tsingshan had a
prominent role in last year’s historic market squeeze. But it’s
also known for its large-scale use of low-cost nickel pig iron
that disrupted the stainless steel supply chain two decades
ago. It then shocked the market again in 2018 by announcing
a $700 million plan to produce battery-grade nickel in
Indonesia at breakneck speed. It missed initial targets but still
beat legacy rivals by years.
The results of the Indonesian revolution are visible. Mining
majors producing high-end nickel have traditionally focused on
sulfide ores, but today, low-grade ores that were once fit only
for stainless steel are now suitable for wider use. HPAL uses
material with as little as 0.9% nickel, and the cost — crucially
— is manageable. It costs Harita $5,225 for a ton of nickel
content using HPAL, 48% less than with traditional electric-
furnace smelters, according to AME Research. The process
also yields a cobalt bonus, another key material for batteries,
and the spate of investment has made Indonesia the largest
source of cobalt outside of Africa. Source: Bloomberg
Harita Nickel, also known as Trimegah Bangun Persada, says it learned from an HPAL plant in neighboring Papua New Guinea, which took six years to reach
capacity. The company took the same formula, including the design by China ENFI Engineering Corp., and made improvements. It patented a more efficient
way to remove chrome from ore, reducing the need for sulfuric acid, which makes up one-third of the cost of HPAL.
It took one year and $1.5 billion for Harita to be fully operational. It's since been producing at 110% of its target capacity. Speed and scale have brought
political challenges and operational concerns, with rising scrutiny on critical mineral supplies and a technology dependent on expensive, inflation-sensitive
ingredients. But the environmental cost may be the biggest headache: A technology so vital to the green energy transition generates vast quantities of waste.

Harita presses the water out of its waste slurry then stacks the Nickel Reserves
dry soil in former mining sites, but there’s not enough space.
Its mines contain enough laterite ores to keep the HPAL
facility busy for 17 years. Its dry-stacking area could
accommodate just six years worth of waste, and even that’s
optimistic in a high-rainfall tropical region, says Wood
Mackenzie’s Durrant: “There is no such thing as dry stacking
in a wet environment.”
Where Does the World's Nickel Come From?
The Southeast Asian nation holds a fifth of global nickel
reserves but accounted for almost half of global output last
year. The company proposes building a dam for tailings,
bypassing the dry-pressing machine and letting the sun dry
the waste slurry. But that presents its own problems. The
troubled Goro mine in New Caledonia curtailed output after a
leak from its tailings dam in November. Source: Bloomberg

And there are few easy alternatives — Ramu, the plant that inspired Harita, disposes of its tailings in the sea, a controversial practice banned in Indonesia,
where seas tend to be shallow. Harita has already faced a taste of those challenges. Reports of pollution prompted the company to build more than 34
hectares of sediment ponds to prevent mining runoff from reaching the ocean. It fenced off a spring after employees unwittingly contaminated the source of
drinking water with a cancer-causing chemical. And a plan to relocate a nearby village to a purpose-built housing complex remains controversial.

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Continued Nickel Revolution Has Indonesia Chasing Battery Riches Tinged With Risk https://tinyurl.com/mercomnckl

"If money wasn't an issue then companies would employ dry stacking — that is the best approach for Indonesia. But it's very costly," said Allan Ray Restauro,
metals and mining analyst at BloombergNEF. There is a risk, he added, that Jakarta will withhold environmental permits if the waste issue remains unresolved.
“This could lead to considerable delays."
When Indonesia decided against granting permits for deep-sea tailing disposal in 2021, the policy U-turn led to delays to several nickel projects in Sulawesi. So
far, the local economy is reaping the gains from the nickel boom. North Maluku expanded 23% last year, four times the country’s growth rate. Jokowi has
hailed the province as a successful example of his commodities policy.
Inside Harita’s plant in Obi, Rivan Lie points to a pool collecting liquid emerging from HPAL machinery. Suspended in the water, the MHP looks like moss.
From there, it will be dry-pressed into a different kind of green. “That’s the nickel,” said Lie, charged with the plant’s human resources. “That’s the money.”
Source: Bloomberg, Mar 29

Company News Engineers Harness Sodium Hydroxide for Sustainable Energy Storage https://tinyurl.com/mercomhym

A Denmark-based firm, Hyme Energy, has developed a novel energy storage system that uses a type of salt known as sodium hydroxide, known to have
exceptional heat storage capabilities and can withstand temperatures up to 1,292°F. Hyme Energy’s storage system can store more energy by utilizing this
high-temperature salt, making it more efficient than conventional systems.
Additionally, sodium hydroxide is cost-effective, improving the system’s overall efficiency. The company said that when Hyme’s system uses heat instead of
just generating electricity, it can achieve efficiencies exceeding 90%. It currently has its sights set on the industrial and residential markets that require heat.
Numerous potential storage solutions are being developed, including large-scale batteries and compressed air storage in underground vaults, all of which aim
to ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply during low wind and solar power availability. The team said this energy storage system could amass significant
amounts of energy and hold it for up to 24 hours, surpassing the eight-hour discharge capability of lithium-ion storage systems.
Molten salt represents an alternative energy storage method, which involves heating the salts using excess energy from solar and wind sources and later
utilizing the stored heat to power a turbine when there is an energy shortage. Molten salt technology is already utilized in concentrated solar power systems.
However, a significant drawback of this method is that the most used salts, namely sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate, must reach a higher temperature,
resulting in a low efficiency of approximately 70% for electricity delivery.
Demonstration System
Hyme Energy is working on two demonstration facilities for its innovative energy storage system. The first is a 1.5-MW storage unit in Esbjerg, which will be
commissioned this year as an integration project to test components and system integration. The second, a larger 15-20 MWh facility, is planned for Denmark’s
energy island, Bornholm, in 2024.
Hyme’s system uses two storage tanks and sodium hydroxide, a cost-effective and efficient salt. It will replace an oil boiler in a cogeneration plant, providing
the district with steam, power, and heat. Seaborg Technologies, Hyme’s sister company, has developed a corrosion control system that allows molten salt to
be used in small modular nuclear reactors without causing damage. If successful, this energy storage method could reduce reliance on fossil fuels and provide
power during low wind and solar energy. Source: Mercom Clean Energy Insights, Mar 2023
Australia's Battery Industries Forecasted to Contribute $16.9 Billion to its Economy by 2030
Industry News https://tinyurl.com/mercomapbm
Part 2
Australia must leverage its three comparative advantages to compete on cost or differentiation to capture the battery opportunity: Australia has
greater diversity and reserves of critical minerals than its global peers. It is the world’s leading producer of lithium and has reserves of lithium, cobalt, and
nickel ranking in the world’s top three countries. Australia’s mining wealth positions it to be a secure source of supply, enabling upstream integration and co-
location opportunities which reduce operating and capital costs. Australia’s relative reliability and security make it an attractive partner for countries wishing to
diversify their supply chains.

Internationally, Australian government institutions are perceived to be credible, effective, and largely independent of political influences. In fact, Australia ranks
in the top 10% of all nations by the World Bank’s Government Effectiveness Index, above peers like the US and EU. Australia’s reliability as a supply chain
partner is also shown through its diversified access to global markets. Australia has extensive free trade agreement coverage, especially across the Indo-
Pacific. This makes Australia an appealing partner for allied countries wishing to ‘friend shore’ operations.

Australia also has the opportunity to use its strong ESG credentials to unlock export markets with ESG requirements. Australia’s strong environmental
standards are upheld through its commitment to rigorous environmental impact assessments such as the WA Government’s environmental impact assessment
and greenhouse gas emissions reporting. Additionally, Australian mining companies have increasingly been adopting renewable energy, with Oz Minerals’
West Musgrave Nickel project having the largest renewable micro-grid in the world.

Australian companies are also innovating to further reduce their carbon footprint and strengthen their ESG positioning. For example, EcoGraf and Pure Battery
Technologies have innovative methods to produce low-carbon products. Australia also has world-leading social and governance practices, with enforced
regulations such as the Fair Work Act, the Modern Slavery Act and the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act. Australia has an opportunity to accentuate
this comparative advantage by working with its geoeconomic allies to develop secure supply chains which have strong end-to-end ESG credentials.

Australia’s wealth of critical minerals is the key driver of upstream cost competitiveness, enabling firms to vertically integrate and co-locate adjacent value
chain steps. The ownership and proximity enable firms to supply inputs at a cost price, maximize operational synergies, and minimize additional costs, such as
logistics and recycling.

ESG and reliability also play a key role upstream, positioning Australia’s products as a clean and secure alternative for countries wishing to diversify their
supply chains. With multiple major economies looking to develop domestic manufacturing capabilities with high ESG standards and a diversified supply chain,
Australia is well-positioned to deliver cost-comparable and differentiated raw, refined, and active materials.

Australia’s key downstream differentiator in cell manufacturing and battery pack manufacturing is its ability to offer secure supply into regional markets. This will
be particularly relevant for nations with growing ESS demand, or growing EV manufacturing industries, that will require a reliable source of high-quality cells
and packs.

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Australia's Battery Industries Forecasted to Contribute $16.9 Billion to its Economy by 2030
Continued https://tinyurl.com/mercomapbm
Part 2
Australia can become cost-competitive in refining and active materials if it unlocks cost advantages, but the IRA weakens competitiveness
downstream: Australia could be globally cost-competitive in refining and active materials due to its ability to integrate lithium mining and refining operations.
Downstream, the IRA has reduced Australia’s cost competitiveness in cell manufacturing and pack assembly. Australia has the potential to be the cheapest
producer of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) through upstream integration in the supply chain. Australian LHM refining is currently 12% more expensive
than its lowest-cost competitor (Indonesia).
However, Australia’s abundant reserves of lithium allow it to integrate lithium mining and refining to become the lowest-cost global producer of LHM (28%
cheaper than Indonesia). While Australia’s active materials capabilities are currently nascent, it has the potential to be the cheapest producer of lithium iron
phosphate (LFP), being 6% cheaper than the next cheapest competitor (Indonesia). Excluding IRA subsidies, Australia could be cost-comparable to the lowest-
cost manufacturers in cell manufacturing and pack assembly. The IRA significantly weakens Australia’s cost position relative to the US, with a post-IRA cost
differential of -24% in cell manufacturing and -25% in pack assembly.
Potential Production Costs for Refining, Active materials, Cell Manufacturing and Pack Assembly if Integration Benefits are Unlocked

Source: FBICRC

Australia can leverage its critical mineral reserves to Production Costs for LHM
vertically integrate upstream, allowing Australian lithium
refining to be globally cost competitive: Australia’s breadth
of critical mineral reserves creates the opportunity for
domestic lithium refining costs to be reduced by 37% by
vertically integrating mine production with lithium refining,
making Australian lithium refining cost comparable with the
cheapest producers in Asia. With regards to lithium refining,
Australia has a distinctive advantage in having large reserves
of domestic critical minerals. The wealth of minerals provides
the opportunity to vertically integrate, which would reduce
refining costs by 37%.
This advantage is not shared by competitors, which are
expected to remain net importers of lithium in the future.
Vertical integration would allow Australia to refine lithium at
much lower cost than many of its peers, being 40% cheaper
than Australia’s lowest-cost competitor (Indonesia). However,
Australian lithium refining, which is not currently integrated
with lithium mining, is not yet cost competitive. It is currently
12% more expensive to refine lithium to LHM in Australia than
it is in the lowest-cost country (Indonesia). Source: FBICRC

Lithium-ion is expected to stay the dominant technology in ESS, but flow batteries are an emerging technology where Australia may have an
advantage: Lithium-ion has 90% of the ESS market, and it is expected lithium-ion will be the predominant technology in 2030. Australia has 26% of global
lithium reserves, which could be utilized to provide lithium hydroxide for domestic manufacturing of electrolytes, active materials, and batteries. Redox flow
batteries are also gaining market share, and are expected to be increasingly used for stationary storage. Australia has a raw material advantage for vanadium
redox flow batteries, which could be used to provide supply chain security and reduce logistics costs for midstream and downstream capabilities.
Given that Australia has 25-30% of global vanadium reserves, domestic vanadium electrolyte production could utilize local sources of raw material. There are
other alternative technologies that may have increases in commercial adoption for stationary storage applications in the next decade. Sodium-ion and sodium-
sulfur have the potential to be a lower-cost alternatives to lithium-ion. Australian researchers have completed promising work looking into both sodium-ion and
sodium-sulfur battery technologies, and Australia may have an advantage in sodium-ion due to resource wealth.
Australia’s reliability creates the opportunity to export batteries and materials to Asian FTA partners with growing demand for EVs and ESS: Export
opportunities for Australia include markets in Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia - all of which are heavily reliant on Chinese supplies and may
be seeking diversification in trading relationships. Australia has FTAs with Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia, in addition to the Quad strategic
relationship with Japan and India. These agreements and relationships could be utilized to develop a trading relationship for batteries or battery materials.

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Continued https://tinyurl.com/mercomapbm
Part 2
The minimization of tariffs on Australian products would also serve to improve Australia’s cost competitiveness. Japan and South Korea have mature battery
manufacturing industries, which presents an opportunity for Australia to export battery components. There is also an opportunity for Australia to supply
batteries or battery materials to India, Thailand and Indonesia, and to service the demand for batteries that is not supplied by local production.
Source: FBICRC, Mar 2023

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Disclaimer: When quoting, please cite “Mercom Capital Group”. Although information in this report has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, Mercom Capital Group does not guarantee its accuracy
and is not liable for its use. Mercom reports may not be reprinted, reproduced or republished whole or in part without express permission from Mercom Capital Group. Copyright © 2023 Mercom Capital Group, All
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