South Korea Takes Lead in Lithium Power Battery Supremacy
LOS ANGELES, January 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
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USA News Group -Led by auto manufacturer Tesla, the race for lithium powered battery supremacy is on and South Korea appears to be ready to take the lead.
Of course the race is adding to the demand for lithium supplies which are now forecasting a shortfall as early as next year.
Lithium companies are already benefiting from the effects of this global competition including NRG Metals Inc. (TSX: NGZ) (OTC: NRGMF), Critical Elements (TSX: CRE), Neo Lithium Corporation (TSX: NLC) (OTC: NTTHF), and Galaxy Resources (OTC: GALXF).
The push to wean the planet of its dependence on environment damaging fossil fuels is truly in full gear. Winning this race will be heavily dependent on the advancement of battery technology, and the big boys of renewable energy seem to have taken note.
Besides building what is today the biggest battery factory in the world, Tesla is on course to achieve an incredible feat that promises to change the way the world consumes energy.
One contributor that may be a likely source for lithium is newcomer NRG Metals Inc. (TSX: NGZ) (OTCMKTS: NRGMF), that is developing potentially huge lithium brine project in South America's well known "lithium triangle".
Other major lithium miners working at a furious pace to bring on greater supplies of the 'new petroleum' include Critical Elements (TSX: CRE), Neo Lithium Corporation (TSX: NLC) (OTCQX: NTTHF), and Galaxy Resources (OTC: GALXF). All of these lithium producers are seeing heightened activity.
MOVE OVER TESLA
Tesla recently completed the world's largest lithium ion battery in South Australia, which is expected to solve the region's power outages. South Australia has had biting power shortages for a long time due to its lack of energy resources like coal and gas.
The whole project was finished in less than three months, with Elon Musk having famously tweeted a money-back guarantee if he failed to deliver within 100 days of signing the contract.
As enormous a feat as it is, the South Australia project could soon be overshadowed by a South Korean initiative, which could be as much as 50% larger. This project, which is proceeding on course, involves building a 150-megawatt li-ion battery to power the city of Ulsan by February 2018.
The project is being constructed by Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co., a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries.
These two projects have largely been enabled by dropping battery prices, enabled by increase in supplies. According to Bloomberg, battery prices drop by 19 percent every time supply doubles.