Ep 22 EV battery chemistry with Cormac O'Laoire

Marnix Schrijner and David Plunkett, Head of power market and Korea market expert at Afry, a power market consultancy, are sharing their views on the Korean power market and the latest developments in the Korean offshore wind sector. The two power experts delved into the Korean power market structure, the 11th basic plan, the Korean framework for the offshore wind sector, the result of last year offshore wind auction and the significant changes in this year offshore wind auction mechanism.

Shobhan Dhir, critical minerals analyst at the IEA, presents the key insights from the International Energy Agency (IEA) Critical Minerals Outlook 2024, the latest developments in the EV market, and the different battery cathode chemistries. As part of our conversation, we also covered the supply and demand of two critical minerals that are playing an essential role in the energy transition copper and lithium.   Read the Critical minerals outlook 2024

Cormac O'Laoire, Managing Director at Electrios Energy and head of strategy at Green Li-on presents the different EV battery cathode chemistries. After an early career in academics, Cormac spent over 10 years in Hong Kong following the development of the battery supply chain. In our conversation, we will cover subjects such as the main chemistries, NMC, NCA, LFP, the role played by Korea and China in the industry and latest development of LMFP, sodium iron and solid-state batteries.

Mathieu Geze, Director for Asia at HDF Energy, an European IPP specialised in hydrogen solutions, shares his view on the challenges of decarbonising small grids and how HDF Energy can provide a green baseload solution combining solar, battery and a hydrogen system.   Based in Indonesia, Mathieu explains why HDF Energy has opted to start developing projects in the country and shares the challenges and successes of his journey developing projects in Eastern Indonesia.

Mike Thomas, Founder and Managing Director at the Lantau Group explained the ins and outs of the Singapore electricity market and discussed the project to import renewable electricity into Singapore from neighbouring countries. Mike shared his over 30 years of energy analyst experience and described the main drivers of the electricity market in Singapore.

Thomas Briault, Energy leader at Arup in South East Asia discussed the hydrogen value chain. He explained with talent how hydrogen is being produced, stored, transported, and used and its potential to decarbonise the world.

Henry Sanderson, Managing Editor at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, presents his book Volt Rush: the winners and losers of the race to go green. In this very well-researched book, Henry presents the battery technologies, the materials essential for EV batteries and the leading players in this industry. We focus our discussion on the many Chinese companies playing a central role in the EV battery supply chain.   We cover the following topics Battery: The role played by CATL in the global battery value chain and the personal story of its founder Robin Zeng Lithium: How lithium is extracted and processed in Chile and Australia and why lithium extracted from the spodumene is 7 times more carbon intensive than the Li extracted from Li brine Lithium: How Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium are involved in the Li supply chain and how they have built their dominance over the years Cobalt: The role of the Congo DRC in the global cobalt supply chain and the role of the two dominant players Huayou Cobalt and Glencore Cobalt: The Amnesty 2016 report exposing issues around artisanal mining and child labour in the cobalt mining sector in Congo DRC and the impact of the report Nickel: How Tsingshan positioned itself to benefit from Indonesia's ban on raw Nickel ore export in 2020, and how it succeeded in dominating the nickel industry with its investment in the Morowali industrial park Nickel: The environmental impact of processing nickel for stainless steel and battery material Deep-sea mining: Recent developments of deep-sea mining potential in the Clarion-Clipperton zone     Podcast website

Olivier Duguet, Founder and CEO of the onshore wind developer, The Blue Circle, imparted his experiences in wind project development across Europe and Southeast Asia. We discussed about the key influencers for the cost reductions and technological advancement in wind energy over the past decade, and elements underpinning The Blue Circle's successful bid in the 2023 Thailand Renewable Energy Auction.

Giles Cooper, Managing Partner in Vietnam at a leading international law firm Allens, shared his views on the recently approved Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) in Vietnam. We discussed about the key highlights from the PDP8, the next steps and the broader implications for renewable energy development in Vietnam.

Putra Adhiguna, Energy technology lead in a think tank, explores Indonesia's nickel and battery industry and EV development. We discussed Indonesia's role in the global nickel supply chain and the key players shaping the local landscape. Putra shared his view on the impact of the choices made by legacy automakers on Indonesia's decarbonisation path and what the government can do to foster the development of the nickel industry and electrify Indonesia's roads. Putra is Energy technology lead at Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) Putra's articles: Indonesia’s nickel edge yet to show up in its electric vehicles Electrifying Indonesia’s road transport