Electrifying the world

believe we are adapting as an industry to successfully attack this. The lead acid battery industry is defined by its simplicity as it remains the safest and least expensive way to store energy, and that is not changing in the near term.

Although the emergence of advanced chemistries is upon us, lead acid batteries will certainly have a large piece of the pie along with devices like lithium ion, solid state, sodium ion, or hydrogen fuel cells.

Doug Bornas, president, MAC Engineering &

Equipment Company

Optimistic on supply chain and prices

2023 will be another year closer to electrifying the world and batteries are the undeniable key to consumers accessing this energy on demand. Decarbonization of the planet is part of a clean-up project unlike anything the world has ever seen.

When I joined the industry 20+ years ago and discussed with acquaintances socially about my vocation, they looked at me with a confused stare and waited for the conversation to end.

Today, when I am engaged in similar conversations, it immediately captivates stimulating chatter about their EV, or their love for smaller electric bills thanks to their solar panels, or the overall interest in the future of battery technology.

The universal need for batteries is growing, and it will continue to grow throughout this decade and probably into the next. We have an extraordinary opportunity to meet future demand for batteries and I

Sorfin Yoshimura is well positioned to continue to support the industry as it evolves. We have leveraged our more than 40 years of industry experience and continue to add resources around the world. Our infrastructure of eight offices will grow in 2023 as we add our newest location in Monterrey Mexico.

Mexico is a critical manufacturing and trading partner for the Western Hemisphere which made our decision to add technical and commercial personnel as well as warehousing capabilities there an easy one.

SY has been working on various projects in the areas of advanced chemistry both for laboratory and production. Our global procurement team can identify supply-side partners to help the battery-making community execute their plans. Alignment with the right supply partners is critical. SY has a critical supply chain service role supporting the battery industry, and we will continue to listen to the needs of our partners and adapt our services so we can be as valuable as possible.

Huge investment in renewables

Cheerful: High fuel and power prices continue to drive massive investments in Asian renewables. Estimated market capture prices of generation assets across Asia have doubled in the last two years to over $100/MWh, creating a huge space for relatively cheap renewables –we now expect over $2 trillion to be ploughed into wind and solar projects in the next decade.

But high prices are also driving investments in conventional power, with orders of coal and gas power equipment up 50% this year in Asia.

Fearful: Never in history has this much renewable power capacity been added in such a short time, with an average of 150GW per year added across APAC between 20202022.

As capacity continues to rise, can grid and energy storage investments keep up?

2023 will be a pivotal year.

I can state unequivocally that the supply chain has made 2022 challenging in so many aspects. Delays and price increases has forced many companies to scramble to keep up with needs. When companies cannot get accurate information from vendors it affects the entire process and that is what has happened in 2022.

That said, I remain optimistic that 2023 will see the supply chain get under control and prices to stabilize.

One factor here in the US has been the inability for most companies to find employees. That has been a 2022 theme. Clearly if you can’t get employees you can’t meet deliveries. This is starting to change as we end the year and that bodes well for 2023.

I have talked to several companies that have seen applicants coming in the last two months of the year looking for work. If this continues it will help solve what has been a huge problem for many companies in this industry in 2022..

Alan Greenshields, director EMEA, ESS