JMK: India's lithium battery market will reach 2.6GW in 2021 and 116GW in 2030

　　According to a new research report by JMK Research and Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), India's annual lithium-ion battery market will grow from 2.6 GWh in 2020-21 to 116 GWh in 2029-30, with electric vehicles (EV) accounts for 90% of the overall market.

　　SES power believes that this report does not mention the impact of the development speed of India's power on the lithium battery industry, which will affect the final conclusion. As we know, India's power supply has always been very short. Although the Indian government has always provided great support for power construction, India has a vast territory and a large population, which is a lack of per capita power. SES Power has many Indian customers. In addition to their full demand for consumer batteries, they are also very concerned about products that can cooperate with photovoltaic power generation, home energy storage, and portable energy storage, because 12V 100ah replaces lead-acid batteries, 12V200ah, 24V100ah and other products have very high cost performance and are very simple to use: with an inverter, a family can obtain enough electricity for life.

　　The report expects lithium-ion battery demand for automotive applications to increase from 2.3 GWh in FY 2020-21 to 104 GWh in FY 2029-30, supported by government policies, including rapid application and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles (FAME), and state-level electric vehicle policies. Demand for lithium batteries in non-automotive applications is expected to increase from 0.3 GWh to 12 GWh, driven by telecom towers, data centers, grid-scale renewable energy (RE) integration, and rooftop solar.

　　According to the report, the Indian government is targeting 30% of new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, India needs to add 450GW of renewable energy by 2030, and India needs to add 34 GW/136 GWh of battery storage by 2030. will further propel the country to become a key lithium battery consumer.

　　Considering the huge upcoming demand, the report highlights the strengthening of lithium battery production in India. SES Power also understands that the production and assembly of lithium batteries has been developing in India for many years. However, commercial-scale lithium battery manufacturing has yet to begin. Therefore, the country mainly meets its battery needs through imports.

　　The report highlights various compelling reasons for battery manufacturing in India. It noted that, as of late 2020, India had the lowest battery manufacturing cost ($92.8/kWh), while the US, European countries, and even China ($98.2/kWh) and South Korea ($98.1/kWh) had the lowest battery manufacturing costs. higher than India. Likewise, India offers huge cost benefits in terms of cheap labor and electricity (gross monthly minimum wage in India in 2019 was $65 compared to $217 in China). On the demand side, falling battery prices and initiatives including the FAME scheme are encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles in India.

　　The report said India is likely to import all the raw materials needed for battery manufacturing, but this dependence can be reduced by signing long-term contracts with raw material suppliers or acquiring some assets in the mineral-rich country, and local capacity will be gradually built up.

　　The report noted that the challenges facing battery manufacturing in India range from a lack of key raw materials to the need for huge investments and a lack of technical know-how. It suggested battery recycling as one of the alternative solutions to meet the surging demand for lithium batteries. This will lead to the recycling of 90% of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite and put India on the path to a circular economy, the report added.

　　"In general, however, as India already has a huge cost advantage in battery assembly and software-driven BMS capabilities, once lithium-ion battery manufacturing flourishes, it can also realize significant gains through a vertically integrated value chain. For batteries Manufacturing and battery pack assembly, as long as battery standardization and battery safety issues are addressed, and industry and government work in sync, India's future looks promising," the report concluded.

　　The lithium battery industry is not only about lithium resources, it includes upstream, downstream, peripheral and other industries, and there are also many accessory suppliers in these supporting industries. In short, lithium batteries are like spiders in a spider web. It looked as if there was only one spider suspended there, but it was supported by a web of countless thin threads.

　　For example, BMS, SES Power has been making huge investment in this aspect. Frankly speaking, in order to match a relatively perfect BMS for lithium battery products, in addition to the years of work experience of R&D engineers, there are enough excellent suppliers. At the same time, it also needs to have a good enough social platform, such as power grids, equipment suppliers and so on. India's local manufacturing of lithium batteries has a long way to go.