eus-carbon-tariff-landing-and-power-battery-facing-zero-carbon-transformation

  Main content:

1. The EU imposes a comprehensive carbon tariff
2. China’s leading battery companies have taken action
3. The zero carbon competition in the power battery industry has begun
   1. Downstream – Power battery end
   2. Upstream – Battery material end

Carbon neutrality has moved from global consensus to global action. In this context, China’s power battery industry chain is accelerating its zero-carbon transition. It means that the cost of goods exported from China to Europe will further increase, and Chinese manufacturing needs to accelerate the realization of zero-carbon transformation.

1. The EU imposes a comprehensive carbon tariff

On June 22, the draft amendment to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM, hereinafter referred to as “EU Carbon Tariff”) was officially passed. According to the proposal, from 2023 to 2025, the EU carbon tariff will be implemented during the transition period, and imported products will not be subject to carbon tariffs, but importers are required to submit reports on a quarterly basis including the total amount of imported products in the current quarter, and the direct and indirect carbon emissions of products. From 2026, the EU will officially introduce a comprehensive carbon tariff. Compared with the previous version, the amendment will extend the official effective period by one year to 2027, but it has expanded the scope of carbon tariff collection, and added organic chemicals, plastics, etc. to the original steel, aluminum, electricity, cement, and fertilizer, hydrogen and ammonia; In addition, electricity indirect emissions will also be counted. Among them, the EU carbon tariff amendment is superimposed on the revision of the “EU New Battery Regulations”, which means that Europe will have stricter control over the local power battery industry chain, and pose a serious challenge to Chinese power battery industry chain enterprises to enter the European market. Under this circumstance, if Chinese power battery industry chain companies want to deeply participate in the electrification transformation of Europe, except for the competition of technical products, production capacity and supply chain, they must also take the initiative in this zero-carbon transformation and realize the European transformation. Localization and zero carbonization.

2. China’s leading battery companies have taken action

At the 15th High-tech Lithium Battery Industry Summit, SVOLT Energy Technology stated that the company plans to achieve CFP≤25gCO2/Wh for products exported to Europe by 2026. It also plans to build the company’s first zero-carbon factory in China in 2023, and plans to achieve carbon peaking by 2026 and carbon neutrality by 2040. With this goal, the first zero-carbon industrial park of SVOLT Energy Technology has been signed and landed in Dazhou, Sichuan on June 10, 2022. The total investment of the project is 17 billion yuan, and the planned construction includes lithium iron phosphate and cobalt-free cathode material production lines, lithium iron phosphate precursor and electrolyte production lines, battery recycling and dismantling production lines and related supporting facilities. Sunwoda also stated that Sunwoda has established a carbon peak carbon neutrality action planning team led by the vice president of the group, and established a carbon peak in 2029 and a carbon neutral in 2050. and goals. Compared with the plans of the above-mentioned battery companies, Vision Power Technology has taken a first-mover advantage in the zero-carbon transformation of power battery manufacturing. In April 2022, Vision Power Technology took the lead in releasing the first batch of “zero carbon batteries” in the world. In April and June, Vision Power Technology announced that it will build a new power battery super factory in Kentucky, USA and Navarmora de la Mata, Spain, respectively. The planned production capacity of both factories is 30GWh. It is reported that the above-mentioned super factory will rely on the zero-carbon system solution of Envision Technology Group to achieve 100% renewable energy supply and carbon neutral operation. At the same time, through the zero-carbon smart grid technology, it will promote the local green industrial revolution and accelerate the local zero-carbon transformation. At present, Vision Power Technology has established a monitoring and tracking system for carbon emissions throughout the battery life cycle. Through accurate carbon footprint analysis, reasonable emission reduction measures have been formulated, and more effective zero-carbon solutions have been explored to reduce emissions for enterprises and the industrial chain. Empower. The zero-carbon industrial park initiated by Envision, relying on system solutions covering wind power, photovoltaic, energy storage, hydrogen production, carbon management, power trading and other fields, realizes the zero-carbon closed loop of the industrial park and becomes a zero-carbon system solution and power battery. Benchmark factory. In addition to the above-mentioned battery companies, power battery companies such as CATL, BYD, CALB Co, Gotion Hi-Tech, Farasis Energy, and Sunwoda have also formulated corresponding zero-carbon plans and promoted them one after another.

3. The zero carbon competition in the power battery industry has begun

Downstream – Power battery end

In March 2022, Sichuan Contemporary Amperex Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL, was awarded the PAS2060 carbon neutrality certificate by SGS, a world-renowned certification body. CATL’s Yibin factory became the world’s first zero-carbon battery factory. It is reported that more than 80% of the energy of the Yibin factory in CATL comes from renewable energy hydropower, which can reduce carbon emissions by 400,000 tons per year. Gotion Hi-Tech has gradually started to carry out carbon inventory work, and explored suitable energy-saving and emission-reduction targets according to the operation of different bases. At the same time, it plans to build a zero-carbon factory with Volkswagen in Europe, and build a zero-carbon base for anode materials with an annual output of 400,000 tons in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia. In addition, other battery companies have also formulated the goal of gradually reducing carbon emissions, increasing the proportion of green electricity use, and ultimately achieving carbon neutrality and carbon peaking.

Upstream – Battery material end

It is worth noting that the zero-carbon action of the power battery industry chain has been conducted from the battery end to the upstream lithium battery material end. Leading companies in the field of upstream precursors, cathode materials, anode materials, electrolytes and other materials are also actively exploring the dual-carbon path to meet the needs of their power battery customers for zero-carbon transformation. Among them, the cathode material business segment of Huayou Cobalt, a leading cobalt product company, B&M Science and Technology cathode material base passed the PAS2060 system certification of SGS in April, becoming the world’s first zero-carbon cathode material production base; in May, the company’s recycling recycling Sector- Huayou Resource Regeneration has passed the PAS2060 system certification of SGS, becoming the world’s first zero-carbon resource regeneration factory; Huayou Energy has passed the “carbon neutrality” audit of SGS, becoming the world’s first “zero carbon” power battery cascade utilization “factory. In addition, Huayou Cobalt also signed a green power supply cooperation agreement with the Indonesian National Electric Power Company to provide green power for its high-nickel matte mining and smelting project built in Indonesia. Tinci Materials, a leading electrolyte company, also announced the construction of its first global zero-carbon factory in Meishan City, Sichuan Province. Through the use of green energy, green manufacturing, green logistics, green transportation, and intelligent management, it can achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, and annual carbon emissions can be reduced by 1495%. more than 10,000 kg. Under this circumstance, it may join the zero-carbon camp with more Chinese lithium battery industry chain companies in the later stage.