Greenpeace have published a report outlining that batteries from Electric Vehicles (EVs) could meet the worlds energy storage requirements. The report highlights the problems emerging from decommissioned lithium-ion batteries out of EVs.

The report also examines the impact of the growing EV sales across the world will have on the supply chain Ore that is mined to produce the minerals to then produce lithium-ion batteries.

There are critical supply chain risks for primarily the lithium and cobalt required for the batteries. Countries like China, South Korea and Japan manufacture 85% of the worlds EV batteries however do not have the large quantities of raw materials available locally.

It is forecast that over the next 10 years the global Lithium battery market will expand at such a rate that 30% of the worlds Cobalt reserves will be exhausted. During the same time 10.35 million tonne of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese will be mined.

EV batteries are replaced once their usable capacity drops below 80%, this normally occurs within 5-8 years from manufacture. Although not useful in EVs, the batteries can be repurposed to meet other needs.

The report finds that repurposed EV batteries could cover all global demand for energy storage in 2030, calculated to be around 368GWh of capacity.

Decommissioned EV batteries could be repurposed and used as backup power systems in telecommunication infrastructure and data centres. They can also be used for energy storage devices across the National Electricity Market (NEM) and remote area power supplies.

Written by: Alex Driscoll, Senior Manager, Markets & Trading