Professor of Chemistry and Processes at ENSTA (IP Paris)
Key takeaways
Renewable energies present storage challenges, particularly because of the intermittent and decentralised nature of their production.
Despite these challenges, their proliferation offers advantages, such as stabilising production in the face of meteorological fluctuations.
In France, although the scope for increasing energy storage via STEPs is limited, alternatives such as stationary battery storage are being developed.
It is essential to ensure that the environmental benefits of renewable energies are not cancelled out by the negative impacts of the storage resources required.
To limit these effects, solutions are emerging, such as the reuse of used batteries from electric vehicles for stationary electricity storage.
Lecturer in economics at Université Paris Saclay and coordinator of the Sectoral Policies group at the Energy and Prosperity Chair.
Key takeaways
According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI), the price of spodumene, a lithium-rich raw material, increased by almost 480% between January 2021 and January 2022.
The Association of European Automotive and Industrial Battery Manufacturers forecasts that the value of the European battery market will grow from €15bn in 2019 to €35bn in 2030.
Underestimating the size of this market has hampered the flow of capital to the industry along the value chain, meaning that demand is not being met at present.
In order to improve the situation in Europe there is a need to invest in European lithium mining and the sector's value chain.
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