Due to its natural strength and stiffness, graphite is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. It is also stable over a wide range of temperatures.
The lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles are composed of an anode on one side and a cathode on the other. Graphite is used in the anode. Synthetic graphite’s primary application is in the graphite electrodes used for electric arc furnace steelmaking, which accounts for 70-80% of graphite electrode consumption. The market for this sector is estimated at 1.6 million tons in 2024, and is expected to reached 1.9Mt by 2029, Total synthetic graphite consumption is pegged at 3.04Mt this year, compared to 1.68Mt for natural graphite.
Energy storage systems are also expected to require a lot of lithium batteries. According to McKinsey, The Canadian battery market was valued at just $1.4B in 2023, but it is forecast to nearly triple in five years, growing at a CAGR of 22.1% and reaching $3.9B by 2028. Another report by Markets&Markets projects anodes will grow from a $12 billion industry in 2023 to $46.5 billion in 2028.The report concurs with Polaris Research’s observation that electric vehicles are the key demand driver, but adds that industrial applications are increasingly adopting lithium-ion batteries for their efficiency and clean-energy benefits.
Anodes made from synthetic graphite are expected to be the largest market from 2023 to 2028. Despite its higher cost compared to natural graphite from graphite mines, “its well-defined structure facilitates smoother lithium-ion movement, enabling faster charging and higher reliability,” states Markets&Markets. An additional advantage of synthetic graphite is its longer lifespan compared to natural.
The report assessed the degree of criticality for each of 40 materials deemed critical or soon to be critical. Natural graphite was rated “very high-risk” for air applications, and “high-risk” for sea applications. heat treating synthetic graphite is used as engineered material to create precision machined plates, posts, nuts and bolts along with heating elements and fixtures used in the heat treatment of aerospace metals such as titanium, stainless steel, and other alloys…
As Graphite One builds its anode active materials production plant, first to accommodate synthetic graphite, then natural graphite from the Graphite Creek mine, the company has the opportunity to make other graphite products. Two possibilities are silicon-blend graphite, where silicon is embedded within a graphite matrix in the anode; and hard carbon, which improves ionic flow and provides higher power densities in batteries.
Construction is slated to start within the next three years. According to Graphite One, the Voltage Valley site is in the heart of the automobile industry, with ample low-cost electricity produced from renewable energy sources. It is accessible by road and rail, with nearby barging facilities. Existing power lines are sufficient for Graphite One’s Phase 1 production target of 25,000 tonnes per year of battery-ready anode material.
The plan also includes a recycling facility to reclaim graphite and other battery materials, to be co-located at the Ohio site, which is the third link in Graphite One’s circular economy strategy., Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican who sits on the Senate’s armed services committee, reminded the audience of the wider implications of the deal between Graphite One and Lucid. over the Bering Sea, in international airspace close to Alaska.
Graphite One could take a leading role in loosening China’s tight grip on the US graphite market by mining feedstock from its Graphite Creek project in Alaska and shipping it to its planned graphite anode manufacturing plant in Voltage Valley, Ohio.Graphite One could supply a significant portion of the graphite demanded by the United States.
The US Energy Department forecasts that global graphite demand could be more than eight times current production by 2035.