Here's a Robert Llewellyn short animation that sums up all this, EV vs ICEV perfectly.
https://youtu.be/1oVrIHcdxjA?si=tPVH4ggsUb6_EK11

« REC Silicon, our key silane supplier, has inspected and approved our bulk Silane off-loading station, which is critical for safe operation.«

MOSES LAKE, Wash., Aug. 26, 2024

MOSES LAKE, Wash., Aug. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OneD Battery Sciences ("OneD"), a leading developer of silicon anode materials, today announced the successful completion and commissioning of its SINANODE pilot production line in Moses Lake, Washington. This milestone marks an important step forward in scaling up the production of OneD's SINANODE materials for the global battery market.

OneD Battery Sciences Logo (PRNewsfoto/OneD Battery Sciences)

Over the past 12 months, the SINANODE Pilot construction project progressed through initial hires and start of construction design, to breaking ground in October '23, equipment installation in April '24, and startup and commissioning in July '24. This was achieved through intense collaboration between the OneD team, general contractor, Dahlgren Industrial, and various partners, including Advanced Material Solutions, Meier Architecture • Engineering, Royal HaskoningDHV, Grant County PUD, and CVD Equipment Corporation. Additionally, REC Silicon, our key silane supplier, has inspected and approved our bulk Silane off-loading station, which is critical for safe operation.

"Today's milestone showcases the result of excellent teamwork between our Operations team and our general contractor and its many subcontractors, and the training and support provided by the OneD R&D team from our Palo Alto headquarters," said Jan-Marc Luchies, Chief Operating Officer at OneD.

Initial production runs of SINANODE have demonstrated matching performance with the anode materials produced at OneD's R&D facility in Palo Alto, California.

"We have spent many years perfecting the SINANODE process steps to ensure that these steps can be transferred and scaled-up efficiently at other locations. Our customers are demanding that the process parameters that are optimized in Palo Alto can be used to produce larger quantities with documented consistent quality to support the stringent qualification program required by EV cell makers," said Yimin Zhu, Co-Founder, and Chief Technology Officer.

"Customers also want to verify the exceptionally attractive cost structure of our SINANODE process in a manufacturing environment, when applied to several types of EV-grade graphite anode materials from several suppliers. We are now scheduling visits to our Moses Lake plant with customers and partners and collecting data to showcase the key metrics," added Vincent Pluvinage, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer.

More details of OneD Battery Sciences and SINANODE Pilot Program can be found here.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20240826sf90002/oned-battery-sciences-announces-successful-completion-and-commissioning-of-sinanode-pilot-manufacturing-plant

The commissioning of the SINANODE Pilot Production is an important step in proving the scalability of the manufacturing processes. Let’s explain why.

Many large companies in the EV battery supply chains have experienced difficulties with technologies developed by start-ups, including delays, un-even performance between production batches, excessive production costs, and incompatibilities with high-speed and high yield processes uses in EV cell factories.

OneD is following a step-by-step methodical approach to avoid these issues.

First, OneD secured the ability to produce at EV-scale the silane gas precursor at an attractive cost. The costs are now well documented, and the silane plants can be co-located next to the SINANODE plants in Europe and in North America.

Second, the OneD R&D team worked with partners to build EV cell prototypes in cylindrical 46XX format and in prismatic format and tested these cells in Palo Alto to obtain data on energy density and fast charging performance. The cells are also being provided to customers to validate the results in their own laboratories.

Third, EV-grade graphite from several suppliers have been processed using the SINANODE steps, to add nano-silicon to anode materials that are already produced in large quantities at low cost and that have been qualified with EV cell factories.

Fourth, the new SINANODE Pilot Manufacturing Plant is now enabling customers to come and verify the quality and cost metrics and to plan and support their qualification program with tens of tons of silicon-graphite anode materials in 2025 and 2026.

Finally, OneD has worked with established engineering firms to design large-scale productions plants for supporting tens of thousand tons of annual commercial production. Thanks to its foundational IP portfolio of more than 200 granted patents, OneD can license the IP rights and production technologies to industrial partners.

The negotiations are on-going with partners in Europe and North America and the locations will be announced later this year upon conclusion of the licensing agreements.

OneD is NOT an anode material supplier: OneD is the developer and the licensor of the SINANODE technologies, to help a few licensed companies that are in the EV battery supply chains optimize new products that are high performance and lower cost to manufacture at EV-scale. Simply put: better, faster, cheaper and lower risks…

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vincentpluvinage_oned-battery-sciences-announces-successful-activity-7233836815688855553-hwRZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

First, OneD secured the ability to produce at EV-scale the silane gas precursor at an attractive cost. The costs are now well documented, and the silane plants can be co-located next to the SINANODE plants in Europe and in North America..

Fourth, the new SINANODE Pilot Manufacturing Plant is now enabling customers to come and verify the quality and cost metrics and to plan and support their qualification program with tens of tons of silicon-graphite anode materials in 2025 and 2026.

Har dessverre ikke tilgang til artikkelen. Noen som har?
China is swimming in battery-making capacity; Amprius Technologies, Inc. is strapped for cash to build a silicon battery-making gigafactory. In the resulting win-win deal, Amprius gets its batteries and saves $90m in capex; and China sops up some excess production capacity. The Electric. https://lnkd.in/e_r92-QW

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steve-levine-1901926_the-electric-a-us-silicon-battery-startup-activity-7234889136938139648-INkv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Som nevnt hele tiden, REC kommer til å motta statlige støtte og dette snarest.

The Biden administration is considering using federal dollars to prop up U.S. critical minerals projects being hammered by an influx of cheaper Chinese materials, an Energy Department official familiar with the potential move told POLITICO.

Under the policy, the department would set a price floor and agree to pay the difference when market prices fall below that threshold for critical minerals produced by certain U.S. projects. The effort comes in response to delays and cancellations of many U.S. minerals processing projects, including those that were set to receive a collective $1 billion in grants from the Biden administration.

Such a federal backstop would help meet a major goal of the Biden administration’s climate and manufacturing agenda — boosting the domestic production of minerals for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, a global supply chain that China now dominates. It would add to a growing trend of bipartisan support for government intervention in the economy, including former President Donald Trump’s call for widespread tariffs and Vice President Kamala Harris’ push for tougher penalties on price gouging.
The official, who works in the department’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office, was granted anonymity to discuss a policy that is still under consideration.

Chinese oversupply has crashed the price of lithium, nickel and other minerals key to the clean energy transition, making it harder for owners of U.S. minerals projects to secure financing despite grants and other support they’re receiving from President Joe Biden’s administration. Those struggles have led some in the industry and the administration to believe the government must do more than provide an initial capital investment.

The goal of the policy under consideration would be to help reassure investors and customers that domestic suppliers can overcome China’s efforts to maintain its stranglehold on the critical minerals industry.

It’s unclear how much the policy would cost. The details are still being discussed, but the backstop would likely be available for a limited time and apply only to projects that the department has determined are close to being competitive in pricing but are being challenged by foreign market manipulation.

“If we move forward on anything like this, the intent would be to give the nudge that is needed to set off the flywheel, versus create a permanent subsidy or cushion for a particular sector or company going forward,” the Energy Department official said.

Even if minerals prices stay high enough that the government never needs to disburse the funds, the promise to do so can help projects secure purchase agreements from customers that are crucial to financing their construction.

The official said most of what the MESC office has done revolves around investing in the construction side. “But it feels warranted, given what we’re hearing from the market, to think through, are there more creative ways where we can support projects so that they can … have the financial certainty to actually scale up?” the official said.

Companies and industry groups have launched a quiet push for a backstop in recent months, though some in the sector remain skeptical of the government wading into complex commodities markets. There’s also the question of whether DOE can set up — and fund — such an effort without explicit authorization from Congress, especially after the Supreme Court limited federal agencies’ discretion earlier this year by overturning a decades-old legal doctrine.

The DOE official said the agency is looking at what it can do within its existing authorities, which could include repurposing some grant funding intended for minerals projects, such as leftover funds from struggling projects that dropped out of grant negotiations.

The industry laid out its predicament to DOE in response to a request for information that the MESC office published this spring, seeking feedback on the dynamics of the critical minerals market. Companies expressed “strong support” for the department to implement “demand-side tools,” such as a price floor or contract for differences, to address the market concerns, according to a summary of the responses the agency released on Friday.

To secure financing, minerals project owners typically need to sign agreements with potential buyers such as automakers or battery cell manufacturers that show they will generate enough revenue to pay back investors….

But those customers have been loath to sign long-term purchase agreements with U.S. suppliers given the possibility that mineral prices will keep falling, and the fact that American-made minerals are more expensive than Chinese ones to begin with, companies say. One estimate last year put the price of North American graphite at more than double that of imported material, for example.

“You can’t have the facility built or the money to buy the equipment without having commitments from customers because you can’t get the financing without it,” said Chip Dunn, chair of Anovion Technologies, which is developing a $1 billion synthetic graphite plant in Georgia. “This is where the government needs to play a role.”

U.S. producers and government officials have accused China of subsidizing its producers to flood the global market with cheap minerals produced with lower social and environmental standards. A top State Department official, Jose Fernandez, told POLITICO this month that China is engaged in “predatory pricing” to frustrate U.S. efforts to develop its own high-standard sources of minerals.

American projects also face significantly longer timelines to get to market due to permitting delays. And some U.S. minerals suppliers argue that the Biden administration’s rules implementing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for electric vehicles and clean energy manufacturing have left too much leeway for upstream customers to continue purchasing minerals from China.

The Biden administration has already spent billions trying to kick-start a domestic critical minerals industry, particularly in the processing sector that is overwhelmingly dominated by Beijing.

In late 2022, when minerals prices were near their peak, DOE selected 21 processing and recycling projects to receive a collective $2.8 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law. But in 2023, as the projects were negotiating terms of the grants, the price of lithium fell by 75 percent, and the price of cobalt, nickel and graphite each dropped by between 30 and 45 percent, according to the International Energy Agency.

A third of the projects, which were set to receive a collective $1 billion, failed to make it through the negotiations to receive the awards, according to the Energy Department’s website.

The projects faced a “perfect storm” of pricing pressures, said Ben Steinberg, who represents several of the grant recipients as executive vice president at Venn Strategies and spokesperson for the Battery Materials and Technology Coalition.

“High interest rates, inflationary pressures and oversupply of minerals from China put a lot of additional burden on these companies, who have the monumental task of raising or finding private capital for three quarters of these investments,” Steinberg said.

Several of the companies in the grant round have instead sought loans from DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which has more than $200 billion in estimated loan authority and can provide a greater share of a project’s financing. That office announced in May that critical minerals mining and extraction projects are now eligible for loans, and it also indicated to companies in a memo and webinar that month that it may allow projects to receive both a grant and a loan on a “project specific” basis.

But some companies say the Energy Department needs to go beyond supporting capital construction by implementing a backstop mechanism, which would guarantee that specific producers can receive a minimum price for their minerals even if market prices slip.

Offtake backstops help derisk project development and enable developers to access project financing,” the think tank Federation of American Scientists, which researches science-based policy solutions, wrote in a recent report calling on DOE to create such a mechanism.

The idea may be able to find some traction on both sides of the aisle in Congress and in Europe, which is also seeking to wean itself off Chinese minerals.

In its bipartisan policy report last year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said the U.S. is “dangerously dependent” on Chinese minerals and recommended creating a national mineral strategic reserve. That would go a step further than a backstop by physically purchasing and selling the minerals to stabilize prices, as the U.S. does with oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The committee has convened several workshops with companies to discuss the issue this summer.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency also announced plans in February for a critical minerals security program, similar to a program it operates for oil that requires member countries to stockpile at least 90 days’ supply to stabilize prices in the event of a market disruption.

Still, some industry watchers remain skeptical about whether a government backstop is the right strategy to support the industry..

Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Center for Critical Minerals Strategy at the think tank SAFE, said she has reservations about the government “getting their hands into commodity market pricing, which is very cyclical and complex.”

Policies need to be carefully calibrated to the specific commodity price dynamics, potentially peter off after projects reach economies of scale in production, and [be] coupled with other government support, all so taxpayers don’t end up supporting projects — especially unviable ones — indefinitely,” Hunter said in an email.

Alex Fitzsimmons, head of government affairs at Sila Nanotechnologies — which is building a plant in Washington state to produce silicon anode material for EV batteries — said a government backstop should be “on the table as part of a suite of market signals,” but that companies also need to improve their products to stay competitive.

“Especially in this funding environment, companies have to find ways to separate themselves from a technology standpoint and a performance standpoint if they’re expecting to have customers pay a premium,” Fitzsimmons said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/biden-minerals-price-support-china-00176777

Noen som kjenner til dette batteri selskapet?
Merk til siste avsnitt?

A breakthrough in silicon-anode technology for Li-ion batteries

Paraclete Energy, a silicon-anode materials company,
announced the launch of SILO Silicon, a revolutionary silicon-anode material that will transform the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery market, particularly the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector.

This innovative technology offers unprecedented energy density and cost efficiency, enabling longer range, faster charging, and more affordable EVs.

SILO Silicon represents a significant advance in battery technology. Its unique polymer matrix architecture enables industry-leading silicon concentration, delivering up to 300% of the energy density of traditional graphite anodes and outperforming competing silicon-anode technologies by over 200%. This breakthrough results in significantly increased battery capacity, allowing EVs to travel significantly longer distances on a single charge.

“SILO Silicon is a game-changer for the electric vehicle industry,” said Jeff Norris, CEO of Paraclete Energy. “This technology directly addresses the critical needs of the market, offering longer range, faster charging and lower costs – all essential factors in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles.”

Paraclete Energy specializes in developing high-performance silicon-anode materials for EVs and other Li-ion battery applications. Paraclete Energy’s polymer matrix technology offers breakthrough performance and cost advantages over competing silicon-anode technologies based on carbon architectures. The company is committed to providing innovative solutions that advance the transition to sustainable energy and transportation. Paraclete Energy is shipping SILO Silicon in the fourth quarter of 2024, years ahead of projected competitor projects.

https://www.evengineeringonline.com/a-breakthrough-in-silicon-anode-technology-for-li-ion-batteries/

Jigar Shahs:

By 2026, we are predicting that 80% of all of the #solar modules installed in the USA will come from manufacturing in the United States.

Our vision for a healthy, prosperous America is that we lead the world in manufacturing the cutting-edge technologies in clean energy, #ElectricVehicles, computer #chips and all the technologies that make our lives better -- that we invented here in the United States. We can’t win with a defensive mentality that solely relies on tariffs but does nothing to incentivize companies to invest in the United States.

The #InflationReductionAct has given entrepreneurs and investors the confidence to invest in ourselves and to place a bet on the American worker, companies are investing in new factories and clean energy in record amounts -- over 850 already announced across the country. We aren’t going back to the failed polices that licensed all of our innovation to be manufactured overseas.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jigarshahdc_solar-electricvehicles-chips-activity-7237096114347204608-c2hH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Dette blir som en bombe for det grønne markedet i REC og USA.



Biden administration weighs price support for US critical minerals amid Chinese pressure
The effort comes in response to delays and cancellations of many U.S. minerals processing projects.

The Biden administration is considering using federal dollars to prop up U.S. critical minerals projects being hammered by an influx of cheaper Chinese materials, an Energy Department official familiar with the potential move told POLITICO.

Under the policy, the department would set a price floor and agree to pay the difference when market prices fall below that threshold for critical minerals produced by certain U.S. projects. The effort comes in response to delays and cancellations of many U.S. minerals processing projects, including those that were set to receive a collective $1 billion in grants from the Biden administration.

Such a federal backstop would help meet a major goal of the Biden administration’s climate and manufacturing agenda — boosting the domestic production of minerals for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, a global supply chain that China now dominates. It would add to a growing trend of bipartisan support for government intervention in the economy, including former President Donald Trump’s call for widespread tariffs and Vice President Kamala Harris’ push for tougher penalties on price gouging.
The official, who works in the department’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office, was granted anonymity to discuss a policy that is still under consideration.

Chinese oversupply has crashed the price of lithium, nickel and other minerals key to the clean energy transition, making it harder for owners of U.S. minerals projects to secure financing despite grants and other support they’re receiving from President Joe Biden’s administration. Those struggles have led some in the industry and the administration to believe the government must do more than provide an initial capital investment.

The goal of the policy under consideration would be to help reassure investors and customers that domestic suppliers can overcome China’s efforts to maintain its stranglehold on the critical minerals industry.

It’s unclear how much the policy would cost. The details are still being discussed, but the backstop would likely be available for a limited time and apply only to projects that the department has determined are close to being competitive in pricing but are being challenged by foreign market manipulation.

“If we move forward on anything like this, the intent would be to give the nudge that is needed to set off the flywheel, versus create a permanent subsidy or cushion for a particular sector or company going forward,” the Energy Department official said.

Even if minerals prices stay high enough that the government never needs to disburse the funds, the promise to do so can help projects secure purchase agreements from customers that are crucial to financing their construction.

The official said most of what the MESC office has done revolves around investing in the construction side. “But it feels warranted, given what we’re hearing from the market, to think through, are there more creative ways where we can support projects so that they can … have the financial certainty to actually scale up?” the official said.

Companies and industry groups have launched a quiet push for a backstop in recent months, though some in the sector remain skeptical of the government wading into complex commodities markets. There’s also the question of whether DOE can set up — and fund — such an effort without explicit authorization from Congress, especially after the Supreme Court limited federal agencies’ discretion earlier this year by overturning a decades-old legal doctrine.

The DOE official said the agency is looking at what it can do within its existing authorities, which could include repurposing some grant funding intended for minerals projects, such as leftover funds from struggling projects that dropped out of grant negotiations.

The industry laid out its predicament to DOE in response to a request for information that the MESC office published this spring, seeking feedback on the dynamics of the critical minerals market. Companies expressed “strong support” for the department to implement “demand-side tools,” such as a price floor or contract for differences, to address the market concerns, according to a summary of the responses the agency released on Friday.

To secure financing, minerals project owners typically need to sign agreements with potential buyers such as automakers or battery cell manufacturers that show they will generate enough revenue to pay back investors.

But those customers have been loath to sign long-term purchase agreements with U.S. suppliers given the possibility that mineral prices will keep falling, and the fact that American-made minerals are more expensive than Chinese ones to begin with, companies say. One estimate last year put the price of North American graphite at more than double that of imported material, for example.


“You can’t have the facility built or the money to buy the equipment without having commitments from customers because you can’t get the financing without it,” said Chip Dunn, chair of Anovion Technologies, which is developing a $1 billion synthetic graphite plant in Georgia. “This is where the government needs to play a role.”

U.S. producers and government officials have accused China of subsidizing its producers to flood the global market with cheap minerals produced with lower social and environmental standards. A top State Department official, Jose Fernandez, told POLITICO this month that China is engaged in “predatory pricing” to frustrate U.S. efforts to develop its own high-standard sources of minerals.

American projects also face significantly longer timelines to get to market due to permitting delays. And some U.S. minerals suppliers argue that the Biden administration’s rules implementing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for electric vehicles and clean energy manufacturing have left too much leeway for upstream customers to continue purchasing minerals from China.

The Biden administration has already spent billions trying to kick-start a domestic critical minerals industry, particularly in the processing sector that is overwhelmingly dominated by Beijing.

In late 2022, when minerals prices were near their peak, DOE selected 21 processing and recycling projects to receive a collective $2.8 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law. But in 2023, as the projects were negotiating terms of the grants, the price of lithium fell by 75 percent, and the price of cobalt, nickel and graphite each dropped by between 30 and 45 percent, according to the International Energy Agency.


A third of the projects, which were set to receive a collective $1 billion, failed to make it through the negotiations to receive the awards, according to the Energy Department’s website.

The projects faced a “perfect storm” of pricing pressures, said Ben Steinberg, who represents several of the grant recipients as executive vice president at Venn Strategies and spokesperson for the Battery Materials and Technology Coalition.

“High interest rates, inflationary pressures and oversupply of minerals from China put a lot of additional burden on these companies, who have the monumental task of raising or finding private capital for three quarters of these investments,” Steinberg said.

Several of the companies in the grant round have instead sought loans from DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which has more than $200 billion in estimated loan authority and can provide a greater share of a project’s financing. That office announced in May that critical minerals mining and extraction projects are now eligible for loans, and it also indicated to companies in a memo and webinar that month that it may allow projects to receive both a grant and a loan on a “project specific” basis.

But some companies say the Energy Department needs to go beyond supporting capital construction by implementing a backstop mechanism, which would guarantee that specific producers can receive a minimum price for their minerals even if market prices slip.

“Offtake backstops help derisk project development and enable developers to access project financing,” the think tank Federation of American Scientists, which researches science-based policy solutions, wrote in a recent report calling on DOE to create such a mechanism.

The idea may be able to find some traction on both sides of the aisle in Congress and in Europe, which is also seeking to wean itself off Chinese minerals.

In its bipartisan policy report last year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said the U.S. is “dangerously dependent” on Chinese minerals and recommended creating a national mineral strategic reserve. That would go a step further than a backstop by physically purchasing and selling the minerals to stabilize prices, as the U.S. does with oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The committee has convened several workshops with companies to discuss the issue this summer.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency also announced plans in February for a critical minerals security program, similar to a program it operates for oil that requires member countries to stockpile at least 90 days’ supply to stabilize prices in the event of a market disruption.

Still, some industry watchers remain skeptical about whether a government backstop is the right strategy to support the industry.

Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Center for Critical Minerals Strategy at the think tank SAFE, said she has reservations about the government “getting their hands into commodity market pricing, which is very cyclical and complex.”

“Policies need to be carefully calibrated to the specific commodity price dynamics, potentially peter off after projects reach economies of scale in production, and [be] coupled with other government support, all so taxpayers don’t end up supporting projects — especially unviable ones — indefinitely,” Hunter said in an email.

Alex Fitzsimmons, head of government affairs at Sila Nanotechnologies — which is building a plant in Washington state to produce silicon anode material for EV batteries — said a government backstop should be “on the table as part of a suite of market signals,” but that companies also need to improve their products to stay competitive.

“Especially in this funding environment, companies have to find ways to separate themselves from a technology standpoint and a performance standpoint if they’re expecting to have customers pay a premium,” Fitzsimmons said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/biden-minerals-price-support-china-00176777

The “American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act,” a new bill backed by a bipartisan Senate coalition, would ensure Chinese-owned or headquartered #solar companies do not have access to U.S. incentives while they receive massive market-distorting subsidies in China, including on many of the components they are building into end products in the United States. #SolarManufacturing #SolarIndustryNews #CleanEnergy

“Domestic production of these fundamental components, particularly wafers and polysilicon, is critical to building a robust U.S. solar supply chain and this legislation will help make that a reality.” - Michael Carr, Executive Director of #SEMA Coalition. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eHEGGktD
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/solar-energy-manufacturers-for-america-sema-coalition_sherrod-brown-wants-to-stop-chinese-companies-activity-7239648916504268801-S3Fn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=bNoPfY9F1ECTruvf&v=EbFRp7K1z2o&feature=youtu.be

U.S. increases and extends clean energy import tariffs on China

The U.S. Trade Representative decided that it will expand tariffs on solar components, batteries, semiconductors, steel, and EVs from China.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 RYAN KENNEDY

The U.S. Trade Representative ruled to maintain section 301 tariffs on goods shipped from China. The tariffs include 25% on batteries and steel, 50% tariffs of semiconductors, and a 100% tariff rate on Chinese EV imports. The agency said that many of the tariffs will take effect on September 27.

The Section 301 tariffs categorize semiconductors into two main groups, polysilicon for solar modules and silicon wafers, often used in computing.

The reiteration of tariffs reflects the Biden Administration’s “tough, targeted” approach to tariffs described to Reuters by Lael Brainard, a top White House economic adviser.

“Electrical manufacturers are meeting growing demand for clean energy goods by reshoring, new-shoring, near-shoring, and friend-shoring critical supply chains. NEMA members have invested more than $12 billion to expand manufacturing of clean energy and advanced technology goods in the United States across the grid, industrial, built environment, and mobility sectors.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/09/13/u-s-increases-and-extends-clean-energy-import-tariffs-on-china/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=linkedin

Silicon negative electrode battery is a lithium-ion battery with silicon material as the negative electrode. The relevant introduction is as follows:
💡1. Performance advantages
High energy density: The theoretical capacity of silicon can reach 4200mAh/g, far exceeding graphite (372mAh/g), and can store more electricity under the same weight. For example, the Xiaomi 15 Pro adopts a silicon negative electrode battery with a capacity of 6000mAh, achieving a balance between lightweight and high battery life, which can meet the endurance needs of electronic devices and new energy vehicles.
Good rate performance: It can meet the rate performance requirements of fast charging, and some mobile phone silicon negative electrode batteries support high-power flash charging and wireless charging.
💡2. Technical challenges
• Volume expansion: When the silicon negative electrode is charged and discharged (especially when reacting with lithium), the volume expansion reaches 300%, which damages the internal structure of the battery and affects its cycle life and safety. In practical applications, around 10% silicon carbon composite materials are used, and nanotechnology and other technologies are utilized to prevent overall expansion.
• Short cycle life: The natural graphite negative electrode has a cycle life of less than 1000 times, the artificial graphite has over 3000 times, and the silicon carbon negative electrode only has 300-500 times, mainly due to structural damage and performance degradation caused by the volume change of silicon.
• High cost: Graphite negative electrode costs about 150 yuan/100g, while silicon carbon negative electrode costs several hundred yuan/100g, which limits its large-scale application.
💡3. Application Fields
In the field of consumer electronics: Starting from 2021, mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei have been using silicon carbon anode technology in their flagship phones, such as Xiaomi 11 Pro, Huawei Mate Xs2, Honor Magic5 Pro and other mobile phone batteries.
In the field of new energy vehicles, domestic and foreign car companies are laying out their presence one after another. The 21700 battery developed by Tesla and Panasonic incorporates silicon elements to enhance energy density; The Mercedes EQG uses Sila's silicon-based negative electrode battery, and Porsche has reached a supply agreement with Group14 Technologies.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joan-huang-2b4aa3193_siliconanodebattery-activity-7240629004058140672-BEd_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Dette er spesielt til FA!

Donald Trump surprised many by stating he’s a “big fan” of solar power
By
Zhou, Sabrina
09/11/2024

0

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met for the first time Tuesday in their first presidential debate of the 2024 election in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this debate, Trump said he’s a “big fan” of solar power.

Prior to this, Trump had never been very supportive of green energy, stating that global climate change was a “scam”.

https://www.solarbeglobal.com/donald-trump-surprised-many-by-stating-hes-a-big-fan-of-solar-power/

100 kunder altså! En kontrakt med REC må være rett rund hjørnet.

Group14 Technologies Delivers its Advanced Silicon Battery Material to Over 100 Customers Worldwide from an EV-Scale Factory

Group14 Technologies, the world’s largest global manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon battery materials, today announced that it is shipping its SCC55™ material, produced from an EV-scale joint venture (JV) factory based in Sangju, South Korea. Group14 has completed shipments to over 100 electric vehicle (EV) and consumer electronics (CE) battery manufacturing customers worldwide from the JV factory.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/battery-industry_group14-delivers-its-advanced-silicon-battery-activity-7241791373165662209-z6Rb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Novacium’s Silicon-Based Anode Batteries Achieve 3,734 mAh with 96% Capacity Retention after 200 Cycles, Surpassing Commercial Alternatives by 66%

HPQ Silicon Inc. , a technology company specializing in green engineering of silica and silicon-based materials, is pleased to update shareholders on the latest battery milestones achieved by its France-based affiliate, Novacium SAS.
Recent charge-discharge tests at the 200-cycle mark for Lithium-ion 18650 batteries, made with a blend of graphite and Novacium’s GEN3 silicon-based anode material, revealed a 36% capacity improvement with only 2% degradation compared to graphite benchmarks. The remaining capacity of 3,734 mAh exceeds the starting capacities of leading 18650 battery models, which range from 3,000 mAh (+25%) [2] to 3,450 mAh (+8%) [3]. After 200 cycles, the GEN3 battery outperforms top models by 25% [3] to 66% [2].

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/battery-industry_novaciums-silicon-based-anode-batteries-activity-7242240671338639361-bizK?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

We’re excited to announce a multi-year supply agreement with REC Silicon for its high-purity Signature Silane®, a key component in the production of our Titan Silicon anode.

To build a strong #battery supply chain and advance U.S. leadership in clean energy manufacturing, #cleantech companies must forge meaningful relationships with domestic raw material producers. We’re extremely proud to partner with REC Silicon, a leader in solar-grade silicon and silicon products, ensuring that we have a reliable, U.S.-based supply of silane to support Titan Silicon delivery to our customers.

This partnership also represents the first commercial agreement for REC’s high-purity Signature Silane® for use in the #automotive segment, demonstrating a demand for these materials across the #cleanenergy sector.

Read full press release: https://lnkd.in/eNy353Sw
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sila-nanotechnologies-inc-_rec-silicon-and-sila-sign-long-term-silane-activity-7242540907919544321-uQ6a?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc., a next-generation battery materials company, today announced a multi-year supply agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of REC Silicon ASA (“REC”), a leading innovator in solar-grade silicon and silicon materials.

Under the terms of the agreement, REC will supply Sila with high-quality, US-produced silane for use in the production of Sila’s breakthrough nano-composite silicon anode material, Titan Silicon. The agreement also ensures a reliable supply of silane through 2031, supporting Sila’s commitments to deliver Titan Silicon to customers, including Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic, as well as additional companies yet to be publicly disclosed.

Additionally, this agreement marks a significant milestone for both companies. It represents the first commercial agreement for REC’s high-purity Signature Silane® for use in the automotive segment and ensures domestic supply of a critical component to anode materials production for Sila.

“Our agreement with REC Silicon is a critical step in securing the raw materials needed to deliver Titan Silicon to our auto customers for the long-haul,” said Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder and CEO at Sila. “It also marks the importance of ensuring domestic production and supply of a critical next-generation material to support US manufacturing leadership in clean energy.”

“We appreciate the opportunity to support Sila and their production of next-generation battery materials,” said Kurt Levens, CEO at REC Silicon. “This agreement demonstrates the increasing demand for high-purity silicon materials in the clean energy sector, and we are confident that our collaboration will play a key role in accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and highlighting the benefits of working with an experienced, reliable and consistent silane producer.”

https://batteryindustry.tech/rec-silicon-and-sila-sign-long-term-silane-supply-agreement/

🤝Last week, REC Silicon signed an agreement to supply Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. with high purity silane gas. Both companies have operations in Moses Lake, an emerging US hub for silicon anodes.

🔑 Silane gas is a key component of many next-generation silicon anode materials. By 2032, supply of silicon anode materials derived from silane gas is forecast by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence to rise 650% and their market share of the silicon-containing anode market to reach 10%.

💬 “There is a lot of innovation in different engineered silicon anode active materials to improve performance and stability. Of these, materials that nano-deposit silicon inside the pores of a scaffold structure, or grown nanowires, are a leading technology being pursued globally.” - Rory McNulty, Product Director (New Technology) at Benchmark.

Read more on Source. Link in the comments.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/birdmatthew_last-week-rec-silicon-signed-an-agreement-activity-7243912798458494976-yF-y?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

🔎 In charts: How #silicon anodes could impact #graphite demand

The battery #anode market is forecast to enter a supply deficit towards the end of the decade, presenting an opportunity for next-generation anode technologies such as silicon to bridge that gap.

Small quantities of silicon can be added to graphite to significantly boost the energy density of the anode, meaning the same weight of material has a higher capacity than an equivalent anode without silicon.

Through three charts, Benchmark explains how the rise of silicon anodes could impact graphite demand - read the article below ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eRG78wS3


https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benchmark-mineral-intelligence_in-charts-how-silicon-anodes-could-impact-activity-7243937209270120449-DEJv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Fin lese stoff.

https://spectrum-ieee-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/spectrum.ieee.org/amp/silicon-anode-battery-2659927950

Han er en flink journalist og skulle ønske hatt tilgang til artikkelen.


By Rick Morgan – Inno Senior Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal
Sep 24, 2024

Battery tech company Sila deepens Washington ties in deal with key supplier.

The company is developing a massive factory in central Washington, where a key supplier will provide an important component for its technology.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/09/24/sila-moses-lake-rec-silane-washington-battery.html

Noe å følge med på den 14-18 okt.

Battery Wars. Can the Best Tech Win?

Featuring:
Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder & CEO, Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc.
Moderated by Steve LeVine , Editor, @The Electric

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sosv_ev-batteries-silicon-activity-7246559687507103745-zbj5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Leser jeg dette helt rett så bør en børsmelding om første leveransen være rett rundt hjørnet.

🔥 #FridayShoutout to our unstoppable Qcells Georgia, USA solar factory team! 🇺🇸

Your dedication to assembling the best-in-class solar modules is helping our utility-scale customers level up and power the future. 💪⚡

These aren't just any #solar modules—they’re #manufactured right here in the #USA and designed to lead the industry in #performance and #reliability.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/qcells-usa-corp_fridayshoutout-solar-manufactured-activity-7250566154283278336-DvAV?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Som nevnt Q-Cells er ganske aktiv med oppdateringer om made in Amerika varer. Her kan en ikke ta feil. De må ha mottatt vare fra REC og er fornøyd med resultatet.
Alt tyder på at det ikke kommer noe mer utsettelse. Børsmelding bør komme man-tir tenker jeg, om ikke i kveld.
Dette ser bra ut folkens. Endelig vente tiden er over og kursen må begynne å oppføre seg deretter. 👍

PS: Se videoen.

The moment you've anticipated has arrived! We present to you what clean energy #MadeInAmerica means to us and to all Americans nationwide.

It’s time to power our great nation with the promise of #cleanenergy.

Watch the full story and get started today: https://ow.ly/KkWE50Q7Aq2



https://www.linkedin.com/posts/qcells-northamerica_madeinamerica-cleanenergy-activity-7130577756144226305-siaw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Intervjue med Gene Berdichevsky

Battery Wars: Can The Best Tech Win?
https://youtu.be/SEo7nak0wA4

Kan det være grunner til denne innsatsen tro? 😂

REC Silicon won the People’s Choice award for the best-decorated table at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Tuesday.

October 16, 2024
https://columbiabasinherald.com/photos/2024/oct/16/473821/

☀ On this week's NCW MVP Podcast, I spoke with Chuck Sutton, VP of Silicon Sales and Government Relations at REC Silicon. We explored clean and renewable energy, the evolving landscape of the silicon industry, and the local opportunities for students and workers in this field. Tune in to learn more about REC Silicon!

https://youtu.be/bBaR6Xt3FT0

Central Washington faces challenges, opportunities with growing renewable tech industry.

MOSES LAKE – Once known primarily for agriculture, Grant County is fast becoming a hub for electric vehicle batteries and green technology.

Abundant space, cheap electricity and government funding are powering the transition.

But with rapid growth comes some challenges, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse said at a forum Friday with employees of Sila Nanotechnology, a battery part manufacturer in Moses Lake.

“This community is growing,” said Alex Fitzsimmons, Sila’s head of government affairs. “There’s a lot more manufacturing coming into the county and Sila is just a microcosm of that.”

The Alameda, California-based company is renovating a 600,000 square-foot factory in Moses Lake with plans to create as many as 500 new jobs to manufacture silicon anodes to be used in lithium-ion batteries. Silicon anodes are a cutting-edge technology that could replace graphite anodes, which are less efficient and mostly manufactured in China.

A $100 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is partially funding the renovation. Sila expects to begin production in January 2026, plant manager Rosendo Alvarado said.

Sila has contracts to supply Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic Energy, an electric vehicle battery producer.

It’s not the only battery-related company with big plans. Last month, Group14 Technologies was awarded a $200 million grant – also from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – to build a silane gas plant down the street that will come with 150 jobs. Silane gas is needed to produce silicon anodes.

Yet another Moses Lake company, REC Silicon, is supplying Sila with its silane gas.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/oct/18/central-washington-faces-challenges-opportunities-/

The United States Department of the Treasury is incentivizing domestic manufacturing of critical components of the solar supply chain by clarifying that ingot and wafer production facilities and equipment qualify for the Section 48D 25% investment tax credit (ITC) under its final rules for the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS).

Treasury’s final rules confirm that Section 48D applies to advanced manufacturing facilities and equipment that produce semiconductors, including the slicing, etching, and bonding of semiconductor-grade polysilicon used in photovoltaics (PV) modules that begin construction before 2027. In addition, taking advantage of the 25% credit does not preclude any facilities from qualifying for other applicable tax credits.

The U.S. currently has about 45 gigawatts (GW) of domestic module manufacturing capacity online, enough to supply most of the country’s demand in 2024. The U.S. doesn’t have any commercial-scale ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity yet, but 3.3 GW of capacity is under construction. Since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed a little more than two years ago, companies have collectively announced their intent to produce at least 21 GW of wafers and 10 GW of ingots.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), recognizes ingot and wafer production as a “critical gap” in the U.S. solar supply chain. She believes Treasury’s decision will create new opportunities for solar manufacturers and encourage upstream development.

“For the last two years, SEIA has been urging the administration to use all of the tools at its disposal to support ingot and wafer production. We commend Treasury for taking a thoughtful approach to industrial policy, helping to revitalize our communities with great-paying manufacturing jobs and boost our energy independence,” Hopper said in a statement following today’s news. “This is a win-win for businesses and our economy and will continue the manufacturing renaissance in America for years to come.”

Mike Carr, the executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition says he appreciates the efforts that went into Treasury’s rulemaking to support the reshoring of a full solar supply chain.

“The final 48D rules will help solar manufacturers unlock the full potential of the CHIPS and Science Act,” he predicts. “We applaud Treasury’s final CHIPS ITC rules, which clarify that domestic solar ingot and wafer manufacturers can access this landmark incentive. The Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts will drive significant investment in domestic solar ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity, currently dominated by China, help meet our economic and national security goals, and support thousands of good-paying jobs across the country.”



https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/treasury-determines-solar-ingot-and-wafer-production-qualifies-for-25-tax-credit/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/solar-energy-manufacturers-for-america-sema-coalition_today-the-us-department-of-the-treasury-activity-7254529649626542080-e52n?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

REC Silicon er en av 10 av selskapene markedet har mest tro på som skal gjøre det bra fremover.

Disse aksjene har markedet mest tro på nå
DNB har tatt tempen blant aksjehandlerne. – Omtrent halvparten tror på oppgang i både norske og globale aksjer, sier Bård Kittelsrud.

«Vi ser at markedsoptimismen holder seg jevnt god, omtrent halvparten tror på oppgang i både norske og globale aksjer», sier Bård Kittelsrud, som leder aksjeteamet i DNB.


Ti på topp
I undersøkelsen ble aksjehandlerne videre spurt om hvilke selskaper de har mest tro på de neste tolv månedene.
Kongsberg Gruppen troner på topp.
Konsernet la nylig frem tallene for tredje kvartal, der det knuste forventningene til analytikerkorpset med et driftsresultat på 1,9 milliarder kroner – 250 millioner kroner bedre enn ventet.
Teknologikonsernet hadde en omsetningsvekst på 19 prosent til 11,9 milliarder kroner i tredje kvartal, mens ordreinngangen var nesten 13 milliarder kroner, mot 11,3 milliarder i samme kvartal i fjor.
Videre har aksjehandlerne pekt ut Vår Energi og Frontline som de to neste favorittene på listen, etterfulgt av Yara, DOF, Aker BP, DNB, Storebrand, Orkla og Rec Silicon.


https://www.finansavisen.no/finans/2024/10/27/8197570/disse-aksjene-har-markedet-mest-tro-pa-na

🇺🇸 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 - 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀?

💡Following the results of the US election, Project Blue has examined the potential impact the Trump-Vance administration may have on critical materials and associated downstream sectors:

🔹Domestic critical material supply chains
🔹Foreign policy and trade
🔹Semiconductor markets
🔹Energy storage
🔹EV supply chains

Trump presidency: the impact on critical material supply chains
Following the preliminary results of the US election, Project Blue examines the potential impact the Trump-Vance administration may have on critical materials and associated downstream sectors. We expect some deviation from the policy platform of the Biden-Harris administration as an emboldened President Trump with a supportive Congress builds on the experience gained during his first term.

President Trump has promised a lower tax environment, including the slashing of the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%. Combined with a hike in import tariffs, the intent is to incentivise the relocation of companies and manufacturing facilities to the USA. Under a lower tax environment, higher levels of consumption and investment should support GDP growth, with commodity demand also a beneficiary.

The offsetting outcome, however, is a reflationary environment. Inflation could partly come from higher demand as a result of lower taxes (although this is difficult to evaluate over the medium term), but price pressures would primarily be driven by higher tariffs on imported goods. Such a scenario could translate into market pricing in the form of slower Fed rate cuts or possibly a reversal of its recent monetary direction. Depending on the impact of US fiscal and trade policy on the rest of the world, a strengthening USD would be expected in almost any scenario.

Critical material supply chains in the USA

The concept of raw materials as a limiting factor in building supply chains is generally understood. The issue of where materials are sourced from and processed has become more complex as a result of recent legislation (e.g., IRA and CHIPS and Science Act) and is now set to increase in complexity with likely changes to trade policy.

President Trump intends to impose a 10% to 20% trade tariff on all imports, with Chinese imports subject to a potential 60% tariff. Estimates from Evercore ISI suggest that the average weighted import tariff was around 1.5% in 2016. Following the implementation of Trump-Pence administration tariffs, the average weighted import tariff increased to around 2.3%. However, under the currently proposed plans, the average weighted import tariff could increase to around 17.0%, potentially leading to a significant inflationary impact, which could ultimately land on the consumer.

While businesses are expected to increase CAPEX and, therefore, expand their capacity to procure raw materials and grow production under a lower tax environment, higher tariffs would push them towards sourcing domestic materials. Ideally, this should further incentivise the buildout of regional supply chains, but a high-inflation environment typically results in hesitancy to invest amid slower economic growth. It is also worth noting that for many businesses, investing in new supply chains is a strategy that would take longer than the next four years; therefore, the uncertainty around the permanence of a lower tax rate environment could also impact such decisions.

Foreign policy and trade impact on critical industries

Not only could higher inflationary pressures slow economic growth in the USA, but the proposed increase in tariffs would specifically impact China as well. There are significant global ramifications when the two largest national economies slow more than expected, directly impacting commodity demand and consumer sentiment.

Ultimately, President Trump has stated that he wants to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods, restrict the ability of US companies to invest in China, and revoke China’s most-favoured-nation (MFN) trade status established with the WTO. If implemented, these actions would alter the global outlook, which has shifted towards unilateral protectionism in recent years, with changing trade flows and macroeconomics. China, the economy of which has been supported by export-led manufacturing in 2024, is expected to entrench further into Southeast Asia and continue to diversify its export portfolio as the USA focuses on regionalisation, which will impact trade, economics, foreign policy, and geopolitics over the next decade. However, the possibility remains that Southeast Asian countries will take advantage of low production costs to gain market share from China. Furthermore, Europe is expected to be caught between a more protectionist USA and increasing competition from China, two regions on which Europe is significantly dependent for trade. This could have a potentially greater negative impact on Europe’s economic growth and ability to deliver on green initiatives. Notably, increased regionalisation could lead to further price bifurcation between regions depending on trade flow dynamics.

In line with reshoring efforts, the high-tech industry could accelerate in the USA under the Trump-Vance administration. We expect demand for semiconductors in the USA to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% for integrated circuits and 3.0% for LEDs from 2024 to 2029. This would require an increased supply of critical materials for semiconductor applications, the supply chains for which are currently subject to a trade war. China has already restricted the export of a number of critical materials, such as gallium and germanium, with the increased risk now that higher US import tariffs on ‘essential’ goods could actually exacerbate the bottlenecks in critical material supply chains.

Potential impact on the battery industry

President Trump has vowed to “end the EV mandate on day one” and has labelled climate policy the “green new scam”. Therefore, under the Trump-Vance administration, Project Blue expects tariffs on Chinese EVs produced outside the USA to remain in place. This move is consistent with continued protectionism and greater openness towards localising supply chains.

The US ESS market is currently in a stage of rapid growth, driven largely by incentives and financial support. However, increased negative sentiment surrounding EVs could result in reduced IRA and ESS support as climate concerns are abandoned amid increased domestic fossil fuel production and consumption. While President Trump will likely push for reduced financial support for ESS and renewable projects, the IRA is expected to remain in place as a large number of Republican states benefit from IRA incentives. However, the USA will likely no longer align with the Paris Agreement. Ultimately, on an application basis, the ESS sector is expected to be affected more negatively than the EV sector, but the EV sector will still have the greatest impact on raw material demand over the coming decades.

As a result, Project Blue expects to see a delayed EV adoption curve compared to what would have been expected under a Harris-Walz administration scenario, with the USA expected to fall a few years behind schedule. Therefore, BEV/PHEV penetration rates are projected to increase from 9.2% in 2023 to 29.8% in 2030. Consequently, demand for battery raw materials (lithium, nickel, and cobalt) will falter, potentially giving the USA valuable time to localise supply chains. One wonders, however, if the seemingly growing influence of Tesla’s Elon Musk might soften the new administration’s policies towards putting roadblocks in the way of EV adoption.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/theprojectblue_criticalmaterials-energytransition-uselections-activity-7259913816178597888-DGia?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Tror uten tvil at Elon musk kommer til å ha store innvirkninger på kommende regjeringen i USA. Og og kommer til å ha innvirkning på Trumps grønnenergi.

Elon Musk: Solar power will be the vast majority of power generation in the future

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1856351376747479042?s=46

Exxon CEO tells Trump to chill on climate policy: “I’ve been advising that we have some level of consistency ... policy switching back and forth as political cycles occur and elections happen and administrations change... [is] not good for the economy.” politico.com/news/2024/11/1…

Solid-state batteries may yet catch up — but silicon anodes are winning the race to power EVs

PUBLISHED TUE, NOV 5 2024 4:08 AM EST
UPDATED TUE, NOV 5 2024 5:18 AM EST

The buzz around silicon-based anodes, which promise improved power and faster charging capabilities for EVs, has been growing in recent months – just as the hype around solid-state batteries seems to have fizzled.
It comes as increasing EV sales continue to drive up global battery demand, prompting auto giants to team up with major cell manufacturers on the road to full electrification.
"If there's a horse race, silicon does seem to be ahead at least at this moment," said Venkat Srinivasan, director of the Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science at the U.S. government's Argonne National Laboratory.

Silicon anodes appear to be leading the way in the race to commercialize next-generation battery technologies for electric vehicles.

The buzz around silicon-based anodes, which promise improved power and faster charging capabilities for EVs, has been growing in recent months — just as the hype around solid-state batteries seems to have fizzled.

It comes as increasing EV sales continue to drive up global battery demand, prompting auto giants to team up with major cell manufacturers on the road to full electrification.

While some OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have inked deals with solid-state battery developers, carmakers such as Mercedes, Porsche and GM have all bet big on silicon anodes to deliver transformative change in the science behind EVs.

A recent report from consultancy IDTechEx described the promise of advanced silicon anode materials as "immense" for improving critical areas of battery performance, noting that this potential hadn't gone unnoticed by carmakers and key players in the battery industry.

https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/11/05/silicon-anodes-are-ahead-of-solid-state-batteries-in-race-to-power-evs.html

I følge av rapporten fra Canary Media vil neppe bli noe forandring i IRA. Spesielt når republikanerne ikke har flertallet i senatet og ikke minst over 18 av deres medlemmer allerede har sagt at de ikke vil stemme over noe lov for å gjøre endring i IRA programmet.

Denne rapporten går ganske dyp i det og forklarer godt at det ikke kommer til å skje noe med IRA.


https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy-manufacturing/can-clean-energy-manufacturing-survive-under-trump
“There’s

Hanwha vet veldig godt hvilken selskap de har valgt å satse på når det gjelder REC. REC er en midtpunkt selskap for mange andre selskaper og derfor lar Hanwha aldri bli en emisjon her nede.
Det å forlenge låne fristen med noen mnd for REC blir bare vinn vinn for Hanwha.

Alle disse selskapene venter på REC, noen har allerede bindende kontrakt og mange andre er i kø for å få til en kontrakt med REC, mens selskapet på Oslo børs prises til konkurs pris.


The presence of silane gas producer REC Silicon has seen Moses Lake become a hub for silicon battery companies. Sila Nanotechnologies, OneD Battery Sciences and Group14 have all established themselves there.

But the vast majority of REC’s output is already earmarked for the solar-power sector, under an offtake agreement with energy solutions provider Hanwha, announced in November 2023.

https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/graphite-silicon-anode-development-promising-group14-ceo/

Oversatt til Norsk.

Project Blue:

I forrige uke vedtok det amerikanske Representantenes hus Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2024 – med stemmer på 245 mot 155.

Dette lovforslaget endrer energiloven fra 2020 for å utvide definisjonen av kritiske mineraler til å omfatte kritiske materialer utpekt av Department of Energy (DOE).

I henhold til gjeldende lov er US Geological Survey (USGS)-listen, som inneholder visse mineraler som er essensielle for nasjonens økonomiske eller nasjonale sikkerhet, ikke pålagt å inkludere materialene på DOEs liste.

Ved å utvide definisjonen av kritiske mineraler, krever lovforslaget at USGS inkluderer materialene på DOEs liste på sin liste. Innen 45 dager etter at DOE har lagt til et mineral, grunnstoff, stoff eller materiale til sin liste over kritiske materialer, må USGS oppdatere listen sin for å inkludere slike mineraler, grunnstoffer, stoffer eller materialer.

Project Blue bemerker at USGS- og DOE-listene ble dannet ved hjelp av forskjellige metoder, der førstnevnte fokuserte på historisk analyse og sistnevnte også inkorporerte fremtidsrettede data.

I praksis vil de første materialene som legges til den nye, harmoniserte listen være kobber, elektrisk stål, silisium og silisiumkarbid. En viss forsoning vil også være nødvendig på grunn av det faktum at "flusspat" ble oppført av USGS mens DOE listet "fluor".

Som uttrykt av representant Rob Wittman, lovforslaget "... er [et] enkelt, men et betydelig skritt fremover for å strømlinjeforme koordinering mellom etater, forbedre effektiviteten og sikre at den føderale innsatsen for å lagre, resirkulere og utvikle alternative forsyninger fra disse mineralene er fokusert på de samme prioriteringene.»

Man lurer på om andre skritt fremover vil følge nå som Det republikanske partiet har nådd terskelen på 218 seter for å vinne kontroll over Representantenes hus, noe som skaper en trifecta som bør gjøre det lettere for den nyvalgte presidenten Donald Trump å vedta sin nye agenda i januar.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/theprojectblue_criticalmaterials-energytransition-activity-7265016055410954240-c7je?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

REC Silicon: Part 2
By pwsadmin | November 20, 2024 | 0
Silane Afterstripper Upgrade
Project Details
Program and Construction Management were provided to modify Silane Plants 3 and 4 to increase production of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) grade silane. This included new process equipment, refrigeration skids, and the civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and I&C work.

The contractors were managed via Multiple Prime Contracts direct to REC Silicon, with daily and contract management provided by IPC. We provided daily safety professionals, overall site management, warehouse logistics, and hosted inter-contractor coordination meetings.

Key Project Challenges
Aggressive schedules driven by a plant wide restart.
Complex integration schedules between trade contractors.
Remote location and tight labor market presented challenges to securing experienced contractors and labor.
IPC’s Solutions
Created detailed schedules and installation trackers feeding into a master schedule for progress and forecasting.
Detailed logistics tracking of owner purchased materials.
Close coordination of contractor manpower and materials ensuring sufficient resources to make progress. Management of change orders.
Daily monitoring of emergent issue and field discoveries
Owner’s Benefit
Schedule delays were minimized by effective management of the labor and material supplies.
Progress tracking systems allowed for timely and accurate review of change orders, reducing or eliminating significant change order costs.
Successful project execution resulted in strong relationships between REC and local contractors for future projects.
IPC provided daily coordination between trade contractors and owner’s engineering and quality reams, ensuring REC Senior Management time to focus on enterprise level tasks and responsibilities.

https://indpc.com/2024/11/rec-silicon-part-2/

Er det noe misforståelse her? Har REC rapportert dette?
”Selskapet sin første forsendelse av silangass som forlot anlegget i oktober.”🤔

Operations at the REC Silicon facility in Moses Lake as a result of lower earnings in the third quarter of 2024. While earnings are lower, the company did report its first shipment of silane gas leaving the plant in October.

November 29, 2024


https://columbiabasinherald.com/photos/2024/nov/29/478397/

Silicon a Potential Clean Energy Game Changer

Australia recently joined a number of leading nations in naming silicon as a critical mineral. Most people would relate silicon to computer chips and the famous IT hub Silicon Valley in California.


But what is silicon metal and why is it critical to our clean energy future?

Scientists describe silicon as neither metal nor non-metal and have labelled it as a metalloid, an element that falls somewhere between the two.

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, silicon is the seventh-most abundant element in the universe and the second-most abundant element on the planet, after oxygen. About 25% of the Earth’s crust is silicon.

Besides computer chips, silicon has many uses – and it is its relationship to solar energy panels and, more recently, lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) that have seen it elevated to critical-mineral status.

According to the Critical Raw Materials Alliance, silicon metal is absolutely necessary to the production of aluminium and chemical products since it provides them with essential properties. A wide range of modern technologies depend on this material.

Notably, the alliance says silicon metal cannot be substituted and there is no recycling of (pure) silicon.

The economic importance of silicon has been demonstrated in the aluminium and chemical sectors, but also as essential material in the electronics and solar industries, and is garnering promising input in the battery application to increase energy storage capacity and hence battery duration. The absence of substitutes for the wide range of end-uses only increases the critical character of this material.

Growth in the silicon metal market is expected to continue in the coming years, led by increased demand from regular aluminium and chemical applications, a fast-growing solar industry, and the promising battery market demand.

Fast-charging silicon batteries
Researchers across the globe have begun focussing on silicon as a “step change” additive to the rechargeable battery equation.

One alliance, between UC San Diego and leading global battery developer LG, has already identified a number of significant benefits.

The partnership has recently created a solid-state battery with an all-silicon anode that could potentially deliver long life, high energy density and faster charging – potentially making electric vehicles (EVs) cheaper and more practical.

Engineers have now created a new type of battery that weaves two promising battery sub-fields into a single battery. The battery uses both a solid-state electrolyte and an all-silicon anode, making it a silicon all-solid-state battery. The initial rounds of tests show that the new battery is safe, long lasting, and energy dense. It holds promise for a wide range of applications, from grid storage to EVs.

Silicon anodes are famous for their energy density, which is 10 times greater than the graphite anodes most often used in today’s commercial LiBs. However, silicon anodes are infamous for how they expand and contract as the battery charges and discharges, and for how they degrade with liquid electrolytes.

UC San Diego says these challenges have kept all-silicon anodes out of commercial LiBs despite the tantalizing energy density.

The San Diego think tank says next-generation, solid-state batteries with high energy densities have always relied on metallic lithium as an anode. But that places restrictions on battery charge rates and the need for elevated temperature (usually 60 degrees Celsius or higher) during charging. The silicon anode overcomes these limitations, allowing much faster charge rates at room to low temperatures, while maintaining high energy densities.

Now, the US San Diego team has demonstrated a laboratory scale full cell that delivers 500 charge and discharge cycles with 80% capacity retention at room temperature, which it believes represents exciting progress for both the silicon anode and solid state battery communities.

Silicon as an anode to replace graphite
For decades, scientists and battery manufacturers have looked to silicon as an energy-dense material to mix into, or completely replace, conventional graphite anodes in LiBs.

Theoretically, silicon offers approximately 10 times the storage capacity of graphite. In practice however, LiBs with silicon added to the anode to increase energy density typically suffer from real-world performance issues: in particular, the number of times the battery can be charged and discharged while maintaining performance is not high enough.

Much of the problem is caused by the interaction between silicon anodes and the liquid electrolytes they have been paired with. The situation is complicated by large volume expansion of silicon particles during charge and discharge. This results in severe capacity losses over time.

“As battery researchers, it’s vital to address the root problems in the system. For silicon anodes, we know that one of the big issues is the liquid electrolyte interface instability,” said UC San Diego nanoengineering professor Shirley Meng, a director of the Institute for Materials Discovery and Design at UC San Diego. “We needed a totally different approach,” said Meng.

Indeed, the UC San Diego led team took a different approach: they eliminated the carbon and the binders that went with all-silicon anodes. In addition, the researchers used micro-silicon, which is less processed and less expensive than nano-silicon that is more often used.

An all solid-state solution
In addition to removing all carbon and binders from the anode, the team also removed the liquid electrolyte. Instead, they used a sulphide-based solid electrolyte. Its experiments showed this solid electrolyte is extremely stable in batteries with all-silicon anodes.

“LG Energy Solution is delighted that the latest research on battery technology with UC San Diego made it onto the journal of Science, a meaningful acknowledgement,” said Myung-hwan Kim, president and chief procurement officer at LG Energy Solution. “With the latest finding, LG Energy Solution is much closer to realizing all-solid-state battery techniques, which would greatly diversify our battery product line-up.”

“As a leading battery manufacturer, LGES will continue its effort to foster state-of-the-art techniques in leading research of next-generation battery cells,” added Kim. LG Energy Solution said it plans to further expand its solid-state battery research collaboration with UC San Diego.

The study had been supported by LG Energy Solution’s open innovation, a programme that actively supports battery-related research. LGES has been working with researchers around the world to foster related techniques.

PNNL studies
Another organization investigating the electrolyte issue is the US-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL says silicon is a staple of the digital revolution and that the same plentiful, cheap material is becoming a serious candidate for a big role in the burgeoning battery business.

According to PNNL, silicon is especially attractive because it is able to hold 10 times as much energy in an important part of a battery, the anode, than widely used graphite.

https://www.theassay.com/articles/feature-story/silicon-a-potential-clean-energy-game-changer/

Our third installment of the REC Silicon project is now up! This week's focus is on the granular lab, which was installed in the existing Polysilicon Reactor Building.

Granular Lab
Project Details
IPC provided Program Management and Construction Management services to install a custom designed ISO 5 to ISO 7 Clean Room Laboratory located in the Polysilicon Reactor Building.

REC Silicon plant upgrades were implemented to supply a higher purity Metallurgical Grade Silicon. The Clean Room is used for onsite confirmation testing to assure required quality.

The clean enclosure and equipment were designed and supplied by Korean System Trade (KST), a business affiliate of REC. Installation of the Clean Room structure, balance of plant equipment, and utility services were domestically sourced from regional contractors.

Project Challenges

Re-tasking a vintage building for a new occupancy category.
Aggressive schedules driven by commitments to customers.
Supply chain sequencing of parts and materials.
Remote location and a tight labor market presented challenges securing experienced contractors and labor.
IPC Solutions
Secured a Building Code consultant for expert services to address code occupancy changes. Hired a fire protection design contractor.
Created detailed schedules and component trackers feeding into a master schedule for progress and forecasting.
Detailed logistics tracking of offshore and domestic materials.
Close coordination of contractor manpower and materials to ensure sufficient resources to make progress. Management of change orders.
Owner’s Benefit
Early knowledge of building code occupancy requirements allowed for timely hiring of specialty contractors and ensured a smooth design, building permit application, and execution process.
Schedule delays were minimized by effective management of the labor and material supplies.
Progress tracking systems allowed for timely and accurate review of change orders, reducing or eliminating significant change order costs.
Successful project execution resulted in strong relationships between REC and local contractors for future projects.

https://indpc.com/2024/12/rec-silicon-part-3/

Impressive and strategic nomination by President-elect Trump to put forward Jacob Helberg for Undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy and environment. Helberg is a member of the US China Economic & Security Review Commission and a thoughtful commentator on China's economic strategy and its coercive tactical expression. Look forward to seeing how Helberg works with other leaders in the new Administration like Governor Burgum, Chris Wright, Jamison Greer and Howard Lutnick to focus on reshoring manufacturing, address vulnerabilities in critical minerals supply and ensuring that the US maintains leadership in AI, data infrastructure and energy production.

https://lnkd.in/gygRMfAi

iPhone går til silicon-anode batteries i 2025.
Uten tvil de blir ikke de eneste, Følger Tesla og de andre etter kanskje?

Tdk Corporation, one of the main suppliers of batteries for Apple Inc.’s iPhones, will introduce a new generation of silicon-anode batteries in 2025.

Mass production of these batteries is planned for late summer, according to CEO Noboru Saito.

These batteries, developed by Amperex Technology Ltd., deliver 15% more energy density than traditional graphite-anode batteries.

They are already featured in mobile devices like Vivo X200 Pro, which offers a 6,000mAh battery within the same size as a 5,000mAh device.

Group14 Technologies Inc., Tdk’s supplier of silicon anodes, is also exploring applications for EV, highlighting faster charging times as a significant benefit.

https://www.techinasia.com/news/iphone-supplier-tdk-unveils-nextgen-silicon-batteries