Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 8:50 .

Northvolt Expands Gigafactory While Embracing Lithium and Sodium Ion Technologies for Future Energy Storage Needs

Wilhelm Löwenhielm, an employee at Northvolt, a Sweden-based battery manufacturer, discusses his work with energy storage systems. Northvolt caters primarily to the automotive sector but also supports industrial vehicles and energy storage applications. The company’s first gigafactory in Skellefteå is set to expand its annual capacity from 16 gigawatt hours to 60 gigawatt hours within a few years. Löwenhielm recently transitioned into working on sodium-ion technologies but emphasizes the continued relevance of lithium-ion technology for long-duration energy storage. He notes that despite recent remarkable cost reductions for lithium-ion cells and an oversaturated market driving prices down further, lithium-ion remains highly bankable due to its decade-long operational data. He highlights challenges such as competitive pricing pressures from Chinese manufacturers and stresses the importance of anticipating future market needs rather than focusing solely on current profitability. While acknowledging the limitations of batteries for extremely long durations, he believes that both lithium-ion and emerging sodium-ion technologies will continue dominating the market over the next decade due to their efficiency and scalability advantages. Sodium-ion batteries are poised as a promising alternative by mitigating issues related to critical raw materials and price volatility seen in lithium variants. This new technology could establish a lower-cost benchmark without relying on scarce resources like cobalt or experiencing drastic price fluctuations tied to lithium carbonate costs. In summary, while fostering innovation in various battery technologies is crucial for enabling grid transitions away from fossil fuels, Löwenhielm sees significant potential in enhancing existing solutions like lithium-ions alongside developing scalable alternatives like sodium-ions.

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Speaker

Wilhelm Löwenhielm
Senior Director ESS
Northvolt
Sweden

Talk of session: Long-Duration Energy Storage - What's Holding it Back, When Will it Break Through?

Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is undoubtedly a key enabler for achieving net-zero. However, despite a wide range of technology providers claiming cost competitiveness and other advantages over lithium-ion batteries, the latter continue to dominate new deployments in Europe and elsewhere. So what's holding LDES back? What is needed to enable more widespread adoption? And when will the age of LDES finally arrive?In this panel, experts will provide an assessment of the suitability of LDES for today's market, the barriers that exist and the requirements and likely timeline for LDES to finally become mainstream.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome and Introduction

Speaker

Dr. Oliver Schmidt
CEO
dvlp.energy
Germany

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Susan Taylor

Speaker

Susan Taylor
Senior Analyst
S&P Global

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Julia Souder

Speaker

Julia Souder
CEO
LDES Council
Belgium

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Laurent Segalen

Speaker

Laurent Segalen
CEO
Megawatt-X
United Kingdom

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Jan Andersson

Speaker

Jan Andersson
Director, Global Market Development
Sumitomo SHi FW
Finland

To Talk

Panel Discussion

To Talk

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