Nornickel to decide within year on scaling output of battery materials
ST. PETERSBURG. Sept 23 (Interfax) - Norilsk Nickel plans to reach a decision within the next year on the start of the next stage of the project to create battery materials, the company's vice president for innovation, Vitaly Busko, told reporters.
"Today, we have completed the next stage of obtaining battery materials technology and continue to work on this topic. In my opinion, we must make a decision on the economic feasibility of producing cathode materials within a year. Further investments in the project will also depend on whether we build a plant [for the production of battery materials] or not," Busko said during a presentation for Norilsk Nickel's Battery Technology Center in St. Petersburg.
According to the senior manager, Norilsk Nickel acquired a specialized electrochemical laboratory in St. Petersburg and retrofitted it with equipment for the synthesis of nickel-containing cathode active materials at the end of 2022. At present, the company's investments in the development of cathode active materials total around $30 million. Currently, within the framework of the project, Norilsk Nickel has gone through two stages: from obtaining tens of grams of the substance in one synthesis operation to tens of kilograms of cathode active materials. The next stage should be the construction of a pilot plant for the production of 10 tonnes of material per year. According to Busko, the construction of a pilot plant for the third stage may take 2-2.5 years after the relevant decision is taken. Currently, Norilsk Nickel is working out options for where such a plant could be located.
The next stage of the project after testing the pilot plant should be full-scale production of battery materials.
"We are currently working on the possibility of implementing a project to produce battery materials, but I cannot disclose the details at the moment, the business case is still at the discussion stage. In order to make a final decision on the project, we need to confirm its economic feasibility. An important story for us is that we have a production technology, and we are ready, accordingly, to implement the next stages of the project," Busko added.
Busko said that the company estimates that the Russian market needs for cathode materials at around 10,000 tonnes per year by 2030, with demand on the global market totaling millions of tonnes. Norilsk Nickel is considering the possibility of developing in the field of sodium-ion and solid-state batteries on a 3-5-year planning horizon in addition to continuing work on cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Busko said that the cathode materials would be manufactured at the prospective plant after it has been launched, and the materials would be primarily used for the Russian market, including manufacturing batteries for electric transport in Russia.
As reported, Norilsk Nickel plans to establish a joint venture with Chinese manufacturers in order to manufacture lithium-based and sodium-ion-based battery materials.