Comment CSIRO
Building Australia’s lithium battery value chain
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ROM powering our mobile devices, electric vehicles and homes to providing grid-scale energy storage, lithium-ion batteries have revolutionised the way we live in the world. As lithium-ion battery costs fall – down 97 per cent since 1991 – and the world pursues a lower emissions energy future, batteries are an enabling technology that will support an even greater penetration of these technologies. The demand for lithium-ion batteries is growing, and the global market is projected to be worth $242 billion by 2026. With 100 per cent of Australia’s lithium-ion batteries currently imported from overseas, an opportunity exists for Australia to build the whole battery value chain from mining of battery minerals to processing, battery active materials and eventually cell manufacture. This opportunity could contribute $7.4 billion annually to Australia’s economy, according to the 2021 Future Charge: Building Australia’s Battery Industries report out of
the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC), and support 34,700 jobs by 2030. In 2020, researchers at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, worked with the FBICRC to develop the State of Play: Australia’s Battery Industries report. The report highlighted Australia’s potential to capitalise on the value add from moving further along the battery value chain. FBICRC’s CEO at the time, Stedman Ellis, said the landmark study provided an important foundation for wider policy framework and identified priority areas which could turbo charge job creation - resources technology and critical minerals processing, recycling and low emissions energy, and defence. CSIRO is actively developing enabling technologies for a minerals to manufacturing approach for Australia, leading to jobs and growth for Australian high-tech manufacturing. The organisation
has world leading expertise in the discovery, mining, beneficiation, production of battery materials, manufacturing, deployment, use and recycling of lithium batteries. Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO, Dr Adam Best, said the organisation is working with industry partners to grow the lithium battery industry and create wealth through new knowledge for Australia. “By value adding Australia’s mineral resources, we can grow the material value of our exports and create high value, high technology jobs, which will lead to economic growth for Australian manufacturers,” Dr Best said. An example is Australia’s burgeoning graphite industry. Today’s lithium-ion batteries utilise artificial graphite as the anode (negative electrode), which is produced from petroleum coke, and has a tremendous energy and CO2 footprint during manufacture. The mining of natural graphite followed by beneficiation produces a flake
One hundred per cent of Australia’s lithium-ion batteries are imported from overseas.
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graphite, but is not suitable for direct use in batteries. By spheroidising the graphite flakes, we are able to produce a “potato-shaped” particle that has high tap density and volumetric energy suitable for use in battery anodes. A final purification step is also needed, and we are developing cleaner and greener methods to achieve this. These are key steps that we are building capability to support an Australian battery anode industry. CSIRO is working with a number of local companies, and the FBICRC, to achieve this. Australia also has significant reserves of Nickel, Manganese, Copper, Aluminium and Cobalt, all elements that are critical to the manufacture of lithium batteries. In 2018, Australia became the largest supplier of lithium to the world. Together with the Australian minerals resources sector, CSIRO has the skills and capacity to deliver innovation and technical solutions to companies interested to enter this space. The downstream processing of these materials to cathode materials, such as the eponymous Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), is critical to creating further value from our mineral wealth. CSIRO is working with Queensland nanotechnology company, VSPC Ltd., on the development and characterisation of an Australian developed version of this material. CSIRO also worked with BHP to build a pilot plant at their Waterford site in Perth to test BHP’s process for producing quality battery grade nickel sulphate for their customers in the battery market. BHP has since produced its first batch of nickel sulphate crystals from its nickel sulphate plant in Kwinana, WA. To further bring innovation to the Australian lithium industry, CSIRO is working with NSW battery manufacturer, Energy Renaissance. Operating in Tomago, Energy Renaissance is set to be Australia’s first lithium battery technology gigafactory with its manmonthly.com.au
