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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":714,"relatedVideos":715},112474413259689,"e8657528-9ad0-4ab1-bec7-ef6b76f4402b","SK Innovation plans new battery plant in Georgia: is N America catching up?","sk-innovation-plans-new-battery-plant-in-georgia-is-n-america-catching-up","article/sk-innovation-plans-new-battery-plant-in-georgia-is-n-america-catching-up",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":550,"content":560,"excerpt":692,"featured":50,"reporter":693,"_editable":697,"component":698,"seo_title":543,"categories":699,"visibility":706,"author_company":49,"featured_image":707,"seo_description":692,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":712,"formattedArticleDate":713},"be06d55e-5c6e-41a0-a957-a7679b02cb54","2019-01-28 00:00",[],[551],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":554},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":555,"image":556,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":557},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":561,"content":562},"doc",[563,570,579,584,589,594,599,604,609,614,619,628,633,638,643,648,653,658,663,668,678,683],{"type":564,"attrs":565,"content":566},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[567],{"text":568,"type":569},"In Q4 2018 SK Innovation (SKI) announced that it would be launching its first US-based battery plant in Commerce, Jackson County, Georgia. The company expects to begin production by 2022 with a total installed capacity of 9.8 GWh. The project is expected to cost KRW 1.98 trillion (approximately USD $1.8 billion).","text",{"type":564,"attrs":571,"content":572},{"textAlign":49},[573,575,577],{"text":574,"type":569},"Outside of the US in its battery plant in Seosan, Korea, SKI currently produces pouch cells for use in electric vehicles (EVs) and ",{"text":576,"type":569},"Benchmark ",{"text":578,"type":569},"expects the Commerce plant to continue to use the same format. SKI suggested end-users of the pouch cells will include Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, Hyundai and Kia.",{"type":564,"attrs":580,"content":581},{"textAlign":49},[582],{"text":583,"type":569},"The release of SKI’s battery plant plans closely followed its announcement with Volkswagen of a strategic partnership whereby SKI will supply VW with a portion of the batteries used in its European fleet from 2019, and will supply part of VW’s North American demand from 2022 onwards.",{"type":564,"attrs":585,"content":586},{"textAlign":49},[587],{"text":588,"type":569},"As with most EV makers, VW isn’t limiting itself to suppliers, which Dr. Stefan Sommer, Group Board Member responsible for Components and Procurement of Volkswagen AG, made clear when he said: “With SK Innovation, LG Chem, Samsung and CATL, we have found strong partners for the long-term supply of cells for our electric vehicles.”",{"type":564,"attrs":590,"content":591},{"textAlign":49},[592],{"text":593,"type":569},"It was only two weeks after this that SKI announced its new Georgia battery plant.",{"type":564,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":49},[597],{"text":598,"type":569},"Its latest plant further commits SKI to the battery industry, having announced plants for China and Hungary earlier this year, and its total capacity will increase from currently an approximate 4 GWh to over 50 GWh in 2023.",{"type":564,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602],{"text":603,"type":569},"Currently SKI is a relative minnow in the battery game and lags behind the more established players such as South Korean peers LG Chem and Samsung as well as Panasonic, CATL and BYD internationally. Nonetheless 2018 has seen SKI begin to develop a pan-continental battery operation, setting up the company to exploit the booming EV market.",{"type":564,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":569},"North America",{"type":564,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":49},[612],{"text":613,"type":569},"What are the implications for North America?",{"type":564,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617],{"text":618,"type":569},"Notably, this is the first GWh scale US-based facility since the announcement of the BEI/Imperium3 plant in Endicott, New York.",{"type":564,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622,624,626],{"text":623,"type":569},"Benchmark",{"text":625,"type":569},"’s data (as of 1 December 2018) shows that North America’s share of the megafactory pie leaps from 5.1% of capacity in 2017 to 11.4% of capacity in the pipeline by 2023 and then a modest increase to 12.3% of capacity in 2028. It’s important to note that the forward-looking numbers represent GWh capacity currently in the pipeline – there are likely to be announcements going forward that increase the forecast capacity. Typically battery plants take 3-5 years to become operational, so",{"text":627,"type":569},"there’s still scope for significant capacity changes.",{"type":564,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631],{"text":632,"type":569},"It’s also important to note that over that period the capacity will increase from 154.3 GWh in 2017 to 1,321.7 GWh in the pipeline by 2028.",{"type":564,"attrs":634,"content":635},{"textAlign":49},[636],{"text":637,"type":569},"North America’s share of megafactory capacity is set to more than double in the next decade and over that period capacity is set to increase by over 700%.",{"type":564,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":569},"Europe v North America",{"type":564,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":569},"While the pipeline GWh capacity for 2023 shows North America with 91 GWh and Europe with 89 GWh, by 2028, Europe is set to lead with a share of 13.1% compared with North America’s 12.3%.",{"type":564,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651],{"text":652,"type":569},"Whereas the capacity in Europe by 2028 is looking to be split between eight plants, the US is currently set for five – boosted by the SKI Commerce plant. Not only does the US have fewer plants but the difference in output differs greatly.By 2028 Tesla is set to dominate, with over 100 GWh in pipeline capacity.",{"type":564,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"textAlign":49},[656],{"text":657,"type":569},"This figure is more than the rest of the North American Megafactories GWh capacity added together.",{"type":564,"attrs":659,"content":660},{"textAlign":49},[661],{"text":662,"type":569},"China is way ahead",{"type":564,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":569},"But for North America and Europe there is an elephant in the room: China. The SKI battery plant may be big news for North America but compared to developments in the Chinese battery megafactory scene it is by no means significant. Considering that the USA is home to Tesla’s Gigafactory 1, which was the first megafactory of its type in 2014, China’s battery megafactory pipeline is impressive.",{"type":564,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671,673,675,676],{"text":672,"type":569},"While the SKI Georgia factory is significant in the USA with 9.8GWh installed capacity, Wanxiang Group’s announcement in Q4 was of a considerably larger scale. The company outlined plans to build an 80 GWh cell production facility in the company’s home city of Hangzhou, China, with an expected total investment of RMB 68.6 billion ($9.9 billion USD). This will add to the",{"text":674,"type":569},"5GWh of capacity which it already has in the city. ",{"text":576,"type":569},{"text":677,"type":569},"expects that the plant will have an installed capacity of 24 GWh by 2023, increasing to 64 GWh by 2028.",{"type":564,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":569},"Outside of China, we estimated there to be approximately 25% of worldwide battery capacity in the rest of Asia in 2017, split between Japan and Korea. However, while Japan and South Korea currently come in second place to China, by 2023 their GWh capacity is set to be overtaken by both Europe and the USA. Although Korea and Japan are hosts to battery majors, we will see limited capacity expansions or new factories when compared with the rest of the world.",{"type":564,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686,688,690],{"text":687,"type":569},"Based on ",{"text":689,"type":569},"Benchmark Minerals",{"text":691,"type":569},"’ November Megafactory Assessment, by 2028 we expect to see the rest of Asia’s share fall to 8.4% of global capacity. This weakness is due to higher costs of production relative to China, which is set to dominate the battery megafactory scene for the coming decade.","In Q4 2018 SK Innovation (SKI) announced that it would be launching its first US-based battery plant in Commerce, Jackson County, Georgia. The company expects to begin production by 2022 with a total installed capacity of 9.8 GWh. The project is expected to cost KRW 1.98 trillion (approximately USD $1.8 billion). Outside of the US […]",[694],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":695},{"job_title":555,"image":696,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},{"filename":557},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"be06d55e-5c6e-41a0-a957-a7679b02cb54\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[700,703],{"slug":701,"name":702},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":704,"name":705},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":708,"name":708,"focus":708,"title":708,"source":708,"filename":709,"copyright":708,"fieldtype":710,"meta_data":711,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/990e57524d/bm-vw-ev-factory.jpg","asset",{"alt":708,"title":708,"source":708,"copyright":708},"Jan 28, 2019","28th January 2019",[],[],1781882642474]