Pitch Evan Hartley

premium account

Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 6:32 .

Expert Highlights Urgent Need for Investment and Innovation in Europe's Homegrown Battery Supply Chain Amid Significant Global Price Drops

The speaker from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence discusses the current state and future outlook of the lithium-ion battery supply chain, focusing primarily on Europe. Despite significant price drops in raw materials over recent years—most notably a nearly 90% decrease in lithium prices—the European market remains heavily reliant on Chinese producers. For Europe to develop a self-sufficient energy storage supply chain, substantial investment and innovation are required, particularly in local production technologies like Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP). The presentation highlights planned capacities for battery cell production both within China and globally by the end of the decade, noting China's shift towards LFP dominance while other regions remain focused on Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) or Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA) batteries. Moreover, ongoing projects by companies such as Stellantis and Mercedes indicate potential shifts toward LFP ventures to mitigate issues like sodium sulfate waste associated with NCM cathode capacity. Ultimately, fostering a homegrown supply chain will necessitate continued investment despite falling material costs.

Automated summarization by AI Conver

Evan Hartley
Senior Analyst
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
United Kingdom

The worst appears to be over. After significant bottlenecks in the battery energy storage systems (BESS) supply chain, the supply of lithium-ion batteries is expected to far exceed demand, helping to resupply the market. However, a closer look reveals that BESS players should continue to actively manage their supply chain, given the continued market dominance of EV OEMs, rising ESG concerns, increasing barriers to free trade and the notorious "pork cycles" of the mining industry. But how should players respond?In this panel, key players will discuss key trends in the BESS value chain, share their perspectives on the resulting challenges and opportunities, and discuss the best strategies to secure supply at optimal cost.

Further Talks of this session:

Speaker

Florian Mayr
Partner
Apricum - The Cleantech Advisory
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Violette Coquatrix
Vice President Supply Chain Operations EMEA
Fluence
United Kingdom

To Talk

Speaker

Corrine Lin
Chairman and Chief Analyst
InfoLink Consulting Co,. Ltd.
China

To Talk

Speaker

Jérôme Bersano
Director of Products ESS
Northvolt
Sweden

To Talk

Further Content
Battery Business & Development Forum
Deep Dive: Resilient Grids with Grid-Forming Batteries: Market Opportunities and Technical Pathways

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 11:45am–1:00pm

premium account

This session highlights their growing role in grid stability, including grid-forming, voltage control, congestion management and system support across transmission and distribution networks.

Battery Business & Development Forum
Financing BESS: What Banks Accept — and Where Deals Break

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 2:00pm–3:15pm

premium account

This session brings together banks, developers, offtakers and investors to discuss what is currently financeable, how contracts are structured in practice, and where expectations diverge.

Battery Business & Development Forum
Deep Dive Europe 1: What’s Brussels’ Plan for Battery Storage in European Markets

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 2:00pm–3:15pm

premium account

The session explores how EU strategies - under all relevant policy frameworks, including a dedicated Energy Storage Strategy under preparation — aim to scale storage deployment, strengthen flexibility markets, and accelerate integration into a resilient, renewables-based power system across EU member states.

Battery Business & Development Forum
Global Supply Chains – Ensuring Access to Critical Raw Materials for BESS for Europe

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 9:00am–10:15am

premium account

This session looks at measures taken to make the EU more independent in sourcing critical raw materials for BESS components and how the framework conditions to facilitate recycling and circular economy in BESS need to evolve.

Battery Business & Development Forum
Safety, Security & Sustainability – Aiming High Despite Huge Cost Pressure

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 1:00pm–2:15pm

premium account

This session highlights key technical and risk-related considerations impacting BESS bankability.

You are using an outdated browser

The website cannot be viewed in this browser. Please open the website in an up-to-date browser such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.