Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in the earnings call: “If you mine nickel in an efficient and environmentally sensitive way, Tesla will do You provide a huge contract." American analyst Wood Mackenzie predicts that within ten years, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) will replace lithium manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) as the main stationary energy storage Chemical material.

However, Musk has long supported the removal of cobalt from the battery, so perhaps this news is not all bad for him.

According to Wood Mackenzie's data, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries accounted for 10% of the stationary energy storage market in 2015. Since then, their popularity has risen sharply and will occupy more than 30% of the market by 2030.

This rise began due to the shortage of NMC batteries and components at the end of 2018 and early last year. Since both stationary energy storage and electric vehicles (ev) have experienced rapid deployment, the fact that the two sectors share battery chemistry has inevitably caused shortages.

Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Mitalee Gupta said: "Due to the extended NMC supply cycle and the flat price, LFP suppliers have begun to enter the NMC-restricted market at a competitive price, so LFP is attractive in both power and energy applications. ."

One factor driving the expected dominance of LFP will be the difference between the type of battery used for energy storage and the type of battery used in electric vehicles, as the equipment will be affected by further innovation and specialization.

The current lithium-ion energy storage system has diminishing returns and poor economic benefits when the cycle exceeds 4-6 hours, so long-term energy storage is urgently needed. Gupta said that she also expects that high recovery capacity and high frequency will take precedence over the energy density and reliability of the stationary energy storage market, both of which LFP batteries can shine.

Although the growth of LFP in the electric vehicle battery market is not as dramatic as in the field of stationary energy storage, the Wood Mackenzie report pointed out that electronic mobile applications featuring lithium iron phosphate cannot be ignored.

This chemical is already very popular in the Chinese electric vehicle market and is expected to gain global appeal. WoodMac predicts that by 2025, LFP will account for more than 20% of the total installed electric vehicle batteries.

Wood Mackenzie senior research analyst Milan Thakore said that the main driving force for the application of LFP in the field of electric vehicles will come from the improvement of the chemical substance in terms of weight energy density and battery packing technology.