Britishvolt chooses BTR as synthetic graphite anode supplier

Battery developer Britishvolt has chosen China's BTR to supply synthetic graphite and silicon oxide to its planned UK gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland, it said July 28.

BTR will produce the anode material using renewable hydroelectricity and plans to build a sustainable manufacturing footprint in Europe, the company said.

The battery developer would benefit from BTR's technical expertise, as well as its global strategy concerning manufacturing location and upstream material plans, Britishvolt Global COO Timon Orlob said in a statement.

"We were always committed to shape global supply chains, and with this collaboration with BTR we are achieving that," he added.

While BTR was based in China, Britishvolt Chief Communications Officer Ben Kilbey told S&P Global Commodity Insights that the plan was to move supply from China to the EU as BTR set up its factories and increased manufacturing capacity.

This would shorten supply chains, resulting in lower embedded carbon and enabling Britishvolt to create a localized ecosystem, he said.

"Our strategy is to localize suppliers closer to our manufacturing plant in the northeast of England to reduce our carbon footprint," Kilbey said.

The battery developer had chosen synthetic graphite due to the electrochemical performance benefits it gave over natural graphite in certain chemistries, Ben Kilbey told S&P Global.

"Britishvolt are also reviewing natural graphite where it makes sense to do so," he added.

While synthetic graphite has sometimes been said to be not that environmentally friendly due to it being a by-product of petcoke, Kilbey said that, on average, 12% of the the carbon footprint of synthetic graphite was emitted from petcoke and 82% from the manufacturing process.

"As we know, synthetic graphite is an energy intensive process, so with the switch to hydroelectricity, this will enable us to have the biggest impact in reducing our overall carbon footprint," he said.

Britishvolt has already secured a number of other battery material, including cobalt from strategic partner Glencore, nickel sulfate from a joint venture with Indonesia's VKTR, and cathode and anode active materials from Posco Chemical(opens in a new tab).

The battery developer started construction on its GBP3.8 billion ($4.6 billion) gigafactory in September 2021, which will be built in four phases of around 10 GWh, and targets 2024 as the start of Phase One production.

It also plans to build a second 60 GWh gigafactory in Quebec and is in talks with the Canadian government concerning its expansion plans.

Increased demand has boosted battery metal prices in general in 2022, with Platts seaborne lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide assessments up 111.2% and 136.6%, respectively, since the start of 2022 at $71,400/mt CIF North Asia and $75,000/mt CIF North Asia as of July 27, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.