Lithium-ion battery supply chain: Enabling national electric vehicle and renewables targets

Abstract

Energy storage will play an important role in the Government of India's efforts to meet the ambitious targets with regards to electric mobility and renewable energy. Among the different types of storage technologies, lithium-ion battery (LIB) is considered to be the best suited for electric vehicles (EVs). LIBs can also address intermittency problems in renewable energy integration with the grid. It is estimated that 13.8 GWh of battery capacity is required by 2020 for the EV sector and 15 GWh battery capacity is needed for grid storage requirements. Indigenization of LIB manufacturing can help to meet this large-scale demand. Moreover, indigenization has the potential to bring down the cost of a battery. One of the key components in manufacturing LIBs is lithium (as raw material), which needs to be imported as India does not have sufficient reserves. Therefore it is important to estimate the total amount of lithium required for fulfilling the domestic demand. To set-up indigenous manufacturing facilities, it is important to identify the key players in the global supply chain of the LIB industry and formulate policies that enable the success of this industry in India. This study presents a review of a complete supply chain related to manufacturing LIBs, along with policy instruments to support the domestic battery demand and supply ecosystem.