The rise of power battery recycling

At present, the rise of power battery recycling is not only driven by policies, but also by the huge social value brought by the recycling of retired power batteries. It is foreseeable that with the continuous rise of cascade utilization projects represented by grid energy storage and communication base station energy storage, more and more power batteries will enter the energy storage field and play their surplus value.

In recent years, benefiting from the promotion of subsidy policies, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country have exploded, driving the installed capacity of power batteries to rise. In 2018, for example, the installed capacity of power batteries has reached 56.89Gwh, a year-on-year increase of 56.88%. However, power batteries have their own limitations, and the battery capacity will gradually decay with use. Generally speaking, when the capacity of a power battery decays to below 80%, it is no longer suitable for use as a power source for automobiles.

In a brief review, the installed capacity of power batteries exceeded 1Gwh for the first time in 2014. According to statistics, the installed capacity of power batteries in 2014 reached 3.7Gwh, a year-on-year growth rate of 269%. In 2015, power batteries continued to maintain rapid growth, with installed capacity reaching 15.7Gw, a year-on-year growth of 325%. Therefore, 2014-2015 is recognized as the starting point for the large-scale application of power batteries.

Normally, the service life of power batteries in new energy vehicles is about 5 years. Based on the timing of large-scale application of power batteries, a large-scale retirement of power batteries will be ushered in in the next two years. In fact, according to relevant statistics, it is expected that the cumulative retirement of power batteries in new energy vehicles in 2020 will exceed 200,000 tons (24.6GWh).

In the entire industrial chain, power batteries have a high value, generally accounting for 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of the entire vehicle. When they are retired from new energy vehicles, they still have about 80% of their capacity. If they are not recycled, it will be a huge waste. In fact, with the large-scale retirement of power batteries, power battery recycling is becoming increasingly popular. Especially since this year, various recycling alliances have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

Consensus reached on power battery recycling

On July 30, the founding conference of the Sichuan New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling Industry Alliance was held in Chengdu. The alliance was led by the Sichuan Branch of China Tower Corporation and Changhong Group. It has currently collected support from 96 enterprises engaged in new energy vehicle production, power battery production, new energy vehicle operation and maintenance, recycling and disassembly, cascade utilization, and recycling, as well as related scientific research institutions, government agencies, parks and other units in and outside the province.

Alliance members will rely on their own warehouses and warehouses of existing cooperative units to initially build a recycling network system covering the entire province. By learning and drawing on the experience and practices of advanced regions, they will promote the construction of recycling and utilization systems and industrial technology innovation, explore diversified business models, build professional support platforms, promote standardized research, evaluation and services, and promote the resource, large-scale and high-value utilization of waste power batteries in Sichuan.

It is understood that Sichuan Province has always spared no effort in battery recycling. In the first half of this year, the Department of Economy and Information Technology, the Provincial Department of Science and Technology and other nine departments jointly issued the "Sichuan Province New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling Pilot Work Plan". According to the work objectives, by 2020, the output value of the province's new energy vehicle power battery cascade utilization industry will strive to reach 500 million yuan, and the output value of the material recycling industry will reach 3 billion yuan.

Also on July 30, the Hunan Province New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling Industry Alliance was established in Changsha. The alliance was jointly initiated by three pilot units: Changsha Mining and Metallurgy Research Institute Co., Ltd., Tower Energy Co., Ltd. Hunan Branch, and CRRC Times Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd.

Qin Shipiao, deputy general manager of Changsha Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, delivered a work report on behalf of the alliance board of directors. In his report, he stated: The alliance will actively promote the co-construction and sharing of a power battery recycling network system; vigorously innovate key technologies to form a new technology system of high efficiency, safety and environmental protection with Hunan characteristics; improve local policies, regulations and standards systems; promote interaction between government and enterprises, and become a bridge and link between government, society and enterprises.

Before the establishment of the power battery recycling industry alliances in Hunan and Sichuan provinces, the founding conference of the Jiangsu New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling Industry Alliance was held in Nanjing on May 24. The meeting was hosted by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology. Representatives from member units of the provincial pilot work promotion team, the Qinhuai District Government of Nanjing, the relevant municipal and district industry and information technology bureaus, as well as new energy vehicle production, power battery production and comprehensive utilization companies, third-party service agencies and research institutes attended the meeting.

The meeting elected China Tower Corporation Jiangsu Branch and State Grid Jiangsu Integrated Energy Co., Ltd. as chairman units, Nanjing Guoxuan Battery Co., Ltd., Kaiwo New Energy Vehicle Group Co., Ltd., GEM (Wuxi) Energy Materials Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Jingtai Clean Energy Development Co., Ltd. as vice-chairman units. According to preliminary statistics, there are 114 member units in the alliance.

Earlier, the Gansu Province New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling and Utilization Industry Technology Innovation Alliance was established on May 13. On the same day, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gansu Province New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Cascade Utilization Demonstration Project and the Lanshi Heavy Equipment and Lanshi Lantuo Energy Storage Microgrid Projects was held in the Lanshi Lantuo Industrial Park in the new district of the state. On January 11, the Guangdong Province New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling and Utilization Industry Alliance Establishment Conference and the 2019 Power Battery Cascade Recycling Seminar were held.

From the current situation, not only have new energy vehicle power battery recycling industry alliances been established in various provinces, but the power battery recycling projects of related companies are also being continuously promoted. It is reported that domestic power battery companies such as BAK, Lishen, and Guoxuan are also actively promoting the recycling of retired power batteries. Many of these companies have formed a relatively complete recycling system, and the recycling of retired power batteries has already started.

Overseas, South Korea plans to build its first electric vehicle battery recycling plant in Yeonggwang County. The project is led by Earth Tech, a subsidiary of Tyco International, a manufacturer and service provider of electrical and electronic components, which mainly engages in infrastructure business. Earth Tech emphasized that the company will adopt environmentally friendly recycling methods to build the latest battery recycling plant. At present, the company has formed a scale that can disassemble the batteries of 5,000 electric vehicles, with a total recycling volume of nearly 2,000 tons.

Energy storage becomes the first choice for cascade utilization

Behind the rise of power battery recycling is a profound value logic. On the one hand, the recycling of retired new energy power batteries has received attention and promotion from the state. Relevant state ministries and commissions have jointly issued the "Interim Measures for the Management of Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles" and the "Implementation Plan for the Pilot Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles", which clearly stipulate that by 2020, a complete power battery recycling and utilization system will be established and an innovative business cooperation model for power battery recycling and utilization will be explored.

On the other hand, the recycling of retired power batteries has certain social value. First, from an environmental perspective, the electrolyte contained in power batteries is an organic volatile liquid, which is easy to cause environmental pollution; second, from a resource perspective, my country's dependence on imports of valuable metal resources required for the production of positive electrode materials for power batteries is extremely high, with import dependence on lithium, nickel, and cobalt as high as 80%, 80%, and 97% respectively. Therefore, battery recycling can alleviate import dependence.

Finally, the recycling of retired power batteries from new energy vehicles can bring great economic value. In fact, the retirement of power batteries from new energy vehicles does not mean the end of their life cycle. Direct dismantling and scrapping is undoubtedly a huge waste. When power batteries are retired from new energy vehicles, 70% to 80% of their capacity is still available. Industry insiders pointed out that power batteries can still be used as energy storage batteries when their capacity is between 40% and 80%.