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Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,573,578,583,588,593,598,603,608,613,618,623,632,637,642,647,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,687,692,697],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570],{"text":571,"type":572},"A decade ago, the battery sector was a 60 gigawatt-hour niche and battery cells averaged at $400/kWh.","text",{"type":567,"attrs":574,"content":575},{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":572},"Fast-forward to 2024 and Benchmark is forecasting that 1.4 terawatt-hours of batteries will be produced this year. Battery cell prices have fallen to just $78/kWh and the industry is at the heart of a global energy transition.",{"type":567,"attrs":579,"content":580},{"textAlign":49},[581],{"text":582,"type":572},"“Lithium ion batteries are becoming better, cheaper and abundant,” Simon Moores, Benchmark’s chief executive, said at Benchmark’s Giga USA conference. “It is a megatrend that will last the best part of this century.”",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"At the Washington D.C. event, Moores broke down the last decade of rapid growth and change into four eras.",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"2014-2017: Inception",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":572},"In 2014, the nascent battery industry was based around demand and supply from China. Electric buses using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries were taking off in the country, alongside electric bikes requiring small batteries.",{"type":567,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":572},"Batteries, let alone their supply chains, were not a priority for Western governments. Tesla was the main non-Chinese player in the electric vehicle space driving change in the industry.",{"type":567,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":572},"“Really batteries, and certainly the raw materials that go into them, weren’t on the radar in terms of discussion. They were just going to be there–it was no problem,” Moores said.",{"type":567,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":572},"2018-2020 : Technology works",{"type":567,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":572},"By 2018, the industry had grown to 170 GWh and the concept of a gigafactory was becoming more mainstream, with over 100 operating or in development around the world.",{"type":567,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":572},"“The battery was getting better and it was becoming lower cost at the same time and it was becoming abundant with the rise of these gigafactories.”",{"type":567,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"type":627,"attrs":628},"image",{"id":49,"alt":629,"src":630,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":631},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/4335e4b9e8/bm-giga-usa-2024-01.jpg",{},{"type":567,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":572},"2021-2024: Scaling supply chain",{"type":567,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":572},"The start of this era saw the industry break the 500 GWh barrier for the first time in 2021, more than triple the size of the industry in 2018.",{"type":567,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":572},"With this rapid growth, it was becoming increasingly apparent that more raw materials would be needed: lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite.",{"type":567,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":572},"“It wasn’t just about batteries anymore,” Moores said. “All these gigafactories were being built around the world, yet they weren’t being built in tandem with the raw material supply to go into it.”",{"type":567,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":572},"Around this time, the world was still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic.",{"type":567,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":572},"“It was supply chain chaos,” Moores said. “It was about building back.”",{"type":567,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":572},"In 2022, a defining moment in the industry occurred. The US unveiled the Inflation Reduction Act, a far-reaching piece of legislation offering tax incentives to develop a domestic and friend-shored battery supply chain.",{"type":567,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":572},"By the end of the era, Moores says the true impacts of this policy are now beginning to be felt and has ushered in the final of the four eras.",{"type":567,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":572},"2024 and beyond: Politics as usual",{"type":567,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":572},"The IRA and policies like the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act was “government rushing out policy to backfill this megatrend,” according to Moores.",{"type":567,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":572},"It is now clear that policy and politics will play a key part in the further evolution of the battery industry and momentum has set in and will stick even in this year of elections.",{"type":567,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690],{"text":691,"type":572},"“This trend is so big, the money’s been sunk, and it’s a global mega trend; it’s kind of irrelevant who’s next in the White House,” Moores said.",{"type":567,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695],{"text":696,"type":572},"This year, Benchmark forecasts 1.4 TWh of batteries will be produced. By 2030 this is forecast to grow to over 4 TWh. ",{"type":567,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":572},"“The trend is pretty obvious,” Moores said. “But politics will shape everything else that goes on within the industry.”","A decade ago, the battery sector was a 60 gigawatt-hour niche and battery cells averaged at $400/kWh. Fast-forward to 2024 and Benchmark is forecasting that 1.4 terawatt-hours of batteries will be produced this year. Battery cell prices have fallen to just $78/kWh and the industry is at the heart of a global energy transition. “Lithium […]",[704],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":705},{"job_title":558,"image":706,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"22c799a1-cd12-4343-9c5d-5e053fc542b9\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[710,713,716],{"slug":711,"name":712},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":714,"name":715},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":717,"name":718},"gigafactories","Battery & Gigafactory","private",{"id":49,"alt":629,"name":629,"focus":629,"title":629,"source":629,"filename":721,"copyright":629,"fieldtype":722,"meta_data":723,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/93eef2e832/bm-simon-moores-gigausa-2024-1.jpg","asset",{"alt":629,"title":629,"source":629,"copyright":629},"Jun 11, 2024","11th June 2024",[],[],1784908371572]