Eye on Lithium: Energy storage market firing up, set to hit 500GW by 2031

The global energy storage market is set to reach 500GW by 2031, Woodmac says
Pilbara Minerals says adding capacity to Pilgangoora is “money for jam”
Neometals kicked off Lithium-ion Battery (LIB) recycling project operations during the quarter

All your ASX lithium news for Friday, July 29.

The ducks are lining up for energy storage, according to Benchmark Minerals Intelligence Boss Simon Moores.

Everything is pushing in the direction of energy storage.

With lithium ion battery industry growing at ~40% this year, that growth is eqiv of entire industry in 2019

And we haven’t even seen residential storage take off yet

Meanwhile, an energy crisis has begun in London… https://t.co/mvejxXFowB

— Simon Moores (@sdmoores) July 28, 2022

And he’s not alone in this opinion, with Wood Mackenzie flagging that the global energy storage market is set to reach 500GW by 2031.

The Global Energy Storage Outlook highlighted that Europe demand lags behind as the region’s grid-scale market struggles to stabilise, with only 159 gigawatt hours (GWh) forecasted for the region by 2031, compared to 422 GWh for China and 600 GWh for the United States (US).

“Growth has stalled in Europe as regulatory barriers fail to improve storage project economics,” WoodMac global head of energy storage Dan Shreve says.

“In addition, limited access to power markets and a lack of revenue stacking opportunities, combined with a lack of capacity market auctions, has lowered investment for grid-scale storage assets in Europe.”

Despite this, Germany’s energy storage market continues to grow and is set to become the third biggest energy storage market by 2030, following US and China – with 32 GWh forecasted for the country, 61% from the residential segment.

Graph: Top ten energy storage markets capacity forecast: 2021-2031 (GWh). Source: Wood Mackenzie.

WoodMac did note however that the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan will boost the EU energy storage market further as it pushes for a higher share of renewable supply in EU Member States.

Europe has already seen a 12 GWh increase since the plan was launched in May 2022, which set out a 600GW target for the solar PV market and pledged to ease permitting processes for both storage and PV systems.

“While REPowerEU does not set out a specific target for energy storage, higher renewable supply targets will drive demand for flexible power solutions, including energy storage assets,” Shreve added.

Here’s how ASX lithium stocks were tracking today:

Lithium stocks missing from our list? Shoot a friendly mail to [email protected]

Code	Company	Price	% Month	% Week	% Today	Market Cap
TSC	Twenty Seven Co. Ltd	0.003	0%	0%	50%	$5,321,627.81
CY5	Cygnus Gold Limited	0.2	29%	33%	25%	$18,877,650.40
MRR	Minrex Resources Ltd	0.051	42%	50%	24%	$43,466,025.40
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.027	93%	50%	23%	$33,711,934.67
TMB	Tambourahmetals	0.18	24%	13%	13%	$6,590,815.68
LSR	Lodestar Minerals	0.0065	8%	0%	8%	$10,430,624.09
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.046	64%	44%	7%	$7,766,117.64
CAI	Calidus Resources	0.705	18%	16%	7%	$269,168,432.28
WML	Woomera Mining Ltd	0.016	-11%	0%	7%	$10,302,495.99
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.017	6%	6%	6%	$13,405,209.12
ESS	Essential Metals Ltd	0.46	18%	7%	6%	$107,222,029.88
LEL	Lithenergy	0.98	36%	26%	5%	$41,989,500.00
CHR	Charger Metals	0.49	32%	4%	5%	$15,150,181.28
RAG	Ragnar Metals Ltd	0.042	5%	11%	5%	$15,167,395.56
EPM	Eclipse Metals	0.021	11%	0%	5%	$38,422,528.26
GT1	Greentechnology	0.67	7%	-4%	5%	$117,932,571.52
CRR	Critical Resources	0.045	-2%	2%	5%	$63,984,655.28
BNR	Bulletin Res Ltd	0.12	4%	9%	4%	$33,647,976.50
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.27	0%	10%	4%	$11,718,010.20
KAI	Kairos Minerals Ltd	0.027	42%	17%	4%	$51,014,430.77
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.027	-10%	0%	4%	$5,297,047.96
INF	Infinity Lithium	0.14	17%	8%	4%	$56,026,763.91
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.028	65%	22%	4%	$33,987,172.78
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.028	0%	-7%	4%	$25,001,569.92
LLL	Leolithiumlimited	0.42	-30%	2%	4%	$399,596,049.36
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.03	3%	0%	3%	$24,921,507.31
AUN	Aurumin	0.15	36%	0%	3%	$15,837,371.54
IGO	IGO Limited	11.02	5%	9%	3%	$8,087,620,242.84
ZEO	Zeotech Limited	0.066	38%	33%	3%	$97,594,590.08
GL1	Globallith	1.49	16%	36%	3%	$229,318,979.92
IR1	Irismetals	0.37	54%	35%	3%	$21,465,000.00
CXO	Core Lithium	1.155	11%	8%	3%	$1,949,867,680.50
RDT	Red Dirt Metals Ltd	0.395	-8%	13%	3%	$117,253,454.01
LKE	Lake Resources	0.795	-5%	7%	3%	$1,077,025,177.15
MMG	Monger Gold Ltd	0.23	-12%	0%	2%	$9,009,000.00
PSC	Prospect Res Ltd	0.1225	155%	147%	2%	$55,471,135.44
VUL	Vulcan Energy	7.66	30%	8%	2%	$1,076,448,110.51
PLL	Piedmont Lithium Inc	0.61	-3%	12%	2%	$316,542,480.00
LTR	Liontown Resources	1.295	22%	4%	2%	$2,795,087,127.45
ZNC	Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.33	22%	16%	2%	$112,047,740.68
AKE	Allkem Limited	11.29	5%	12%	2%	$7,090,757,916.32
LIT	Lithium Australia	0.07	27%	-4%	1%	$71,443,243.43
PLS	Pilbara Min Ltd	2.765	16%	8%	1%	$8,126,796,088.32
MIN	Mineral Resources.	53.87	9%	13%	1%	$10,078,025,134.81
NVA	Nova Minerals Ltd	0.835	31%	14%	1%	$148,666,885.13
OCN	Oceanalithiumlimited	0.445	0%	-4%	1%	$14,751,000.00
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.555	28%	12%	1%	$1,153,566,125.80
EMH	European Metals Hldg	0.665	-6%	-16%	1%	$79,109,491.56
WES	Wesfarmers Limited	46.55	8%	-2%	1%	$52,496,803,204.60
GLN	Galan Lithium Ltd	1.16	-1%	5%	0%	$351,581,263.11
AML	Aeon Metals Ltd.	0.028	27%	0%	0%	$27,751,677.04
AVZ	AVZ Minerals Ltd	0.78	0%	0%	0%	$2,752,409,203.44
EUR	European Lithium Ltd	0.075	23%	0%	0%	$103,836,855.98
MLS	Metals Australia	0.058	16%	26%	0%	$32,946,099.08
QPM	Queensland Pacific	0.155	35%	7%	0%	$242,360,035.31
TKL	Traka Resources	0.006	0%	0%	0%	$4,132,647.37
BMM	Balkanminingandmin	0.2	11%	8%	0%	$6,550,000.00
AAJ	Aruma Resources Ltd	0.067	14%	-3%	0%	$10,516,420.70
PAM	Pan Asia Metals	0.365	-22%	-4%	0%	$26,980,888.33
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.034	0%	6%	0%	$9,195,602.57
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.03	-12%	-3%	0%	$6,786,215.25
EMS	Eastern Metals	0.135	4%	8%	0%	$5,218,593.75
FG1	Flynngold	0.1	16%	1%	0%	$6,406,105.00
FRS	Forrestaniaresources	0.15	15%	-6%	0%	$4,662,945.60
GSM	Golden State Mining	0.049	23%	2%	0%	$5,704,644.63
IMI	Infinitymining	0.12	-11%	-8%	0%	$6,900,000.00
MMC	Mitremining	0.12	0%	-4%	0%	$3,250,212.00
SHH	Shree Minerals Ltd	0.009	29%	0%	0%	$11,146,382.03
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.028	40%	-13%	0%	$6,024,917.70
KZR	Kalamazoo Resources	0.235	31%	18%	0%	$34,120,677.89
AZI	Altamin Limited	0.095	-1%	0%	0%	$37,213,091.44
PGD	Peregrine Gold	0.42	18%	-1%	0%	$16,080,533.70
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.0035	0%	0%	0%	$7,415,765.00
RMX	Red Mount Min Ltd	0.0065	18%	-7%	0%	$10,675,365.08
EFE	Eastern Resources	0.025	9%	-4%	0%	$24,860,915.78
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.006	20%	0%	0%	$5,143,736.06
VKA	Viking Mines Ltd	0.007	17%	0%	0%	$7,176,809.02
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.008	0%	14%	0%	$19,850,964.45
SRI	Sipa Resources Ltd	0.038	9%	0%	0%	$7,790,942.51
RGL	Riversgold	0.027	-7%	-4%	0%	$20,422,151.97
WC8	Wildcat Resources	0.024	-4%	0%	0%	$15,486,545.45
THR	Thor Mining PLC	0.01	0%	0%	0%	$10,689,009.73
DRE	Dreadnought Resources Ltd	0.065	48%	27%	0%	$184,514,430.82
M2R	Miramar	0.11	29%	26%	0%	$7,060,532.93
LRD	Lordresourceslimited	0.22	-2%	13%	0%	$6,992,616.62
WMC	Wiluna Mining Corp	0.205	-21%	0%	0%	$74,238,030.68
GW1	Greenwing Resources	0.225	7%	2%	0%	$27,730,653.53
DAF	Discovery Alaska Ltd	0.046	-8%	0%	0%	$10,314,796.11
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.27	-2%	15%	0%	$16,681,275.00
DAL	Dalaroometalsltd	0.11	29%	10%	0%	$3,286,250.00
RIO	Rio Tinto Limited	97.345	-9%	2%	0%	$36,267,824,107.80
AGY	Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.395	22%	7%	-1%	$542,420,394.80
LRS	Latin Resources Ltd	0.079	20%	1%	-1%	$155,615,182.40
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.076	-16%	-11%	-1%	$185,179,268.20
MNS	Magnis Energy Tech	0.325	5%	-8%	-2%	$320,209,389.39
LPI	Lithium Pwr Int Ltd	0.535	30%	15%	-2%	$190,283,942.16
LIS	Lisenergylimited	0.77	51%	-1%	-2%	$130,242,636.80
A8G	Australasian Metals	0.255	6%	9%	-2%	$10,704,328.44
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.05	22%	-4%	-2%	$132,418,767.37
KTA	Krakatoa Resources	0.05	11%	-15%	-2%	$17,580,205.77
MXR	Maximus Resources	0.049	9%	4%	-2%	$15,895,288.40
TUL	Tulla Resources	0.5475	5%	2%	-2%	$89,721,448.32
JRL	Jindalee Resources	2.5	-12%	-4%	-2%	$146,890,152.96
SYA	Sayona Mining Ltd	0.195	11%	3%	-3%	$1,649,619,303.20
WR1	Winsome Resources	0.185	-16%	-3%	-3%	$25,671,658.86
MM1	Midasmineralsltd	0.185	-5%	-5%	-3%	$10,855,035.16
VMC	Venus Metals Cor Ltd	0.175	9%	3%	-3%	$28,814,162.94
MQR	Marquee Resource Ltd	0.069	8%	-1%	-3%	$22,408,848.18
TKM	Trek Metals Ltd	0.066	5%	3%	-3%	$21,121,490.20
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.065	-7%	-4%	-3%	$22,232,689.86
AOU	Auroch Minerals Ltd	0.06	5%	-6%	-3%	$22,921,511.54
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.029	7%	-3%	-3%	$195,215,145.99
NMT	Neometals Ltd	1.12	21%	9%	-4%	$641,600,383.32
MTM	Mtmongerresources	0.105	-22%	-5%	-5%	$4,126,103.63
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.041	-45%	-9%	-5%	$21,704,945.57
ARN	Aldoro Resources	0.2	48%	38%	-5%	$20,913,336.57
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.018	0%	6%	-5%	$98,348,065.73
ADV	Ardiden Ltd	0.0085	21%	-6%	-6%	$24,015,018.20
SRZ	Stellar Resources	0.017	6%	6%	-6%	$15,107,447.27
RAS	Ragusa Minerals Ltd	0.077	-9%	1%	-6%	$10,310,364.79
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.015	-12%	-17%	-6%	$8,918,830.59
PNN	Power Minerals Ltd	0.47	8%	1%	-7%	$31,066,016.83
ASN	Anson Resources Ltd	0.13	31%	-4%	-7%	$143,907,726.90
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.076	33%	23%	-7%	$11,091,333.12
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.011	38%	10%	-8%	$7,835,768.26
CZL	Cons Zinc Ltd	0.018	0%	-5%	-10%	$7,267,156.26
LRV	Larvottoresources	0.205	-29%	0%	-11%	$9,552,475.00
XTC	Xantippe Res Ltd	0.008	0%	0%	-11%	$71,781,512.08
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.0115	-12%	-18%	-12%	$8,496,843.71
AM7	Arcadia Minerals	0.14	-28%	-7%	-13%	$7,471,662.72
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.014	8%	-22%	-18%	$16,202,258.97

A total of 49 stocks were in the green, 42 were flat and 40 were red.

Who’s got news quarterlies out today?

PILBARA MINERALS (ASX:PLS)

PLS boss Dale Henderson has described the company’s decision to add another 100,000t of capacity at its Pilgangoora project which will take its spodumene production potential to as much as 680,000t in a $291m project as “money for jam.”

The company increased production by 56% quarter on quarter in the three months to June 30 to 127,236dmt, with shipments lifting 127% to 132,424t. Its annual production rose 34% to 377,902dmt, near the upper end of PLS’ guidance of 340-380,000t.

A further 200,000t of capacity has been commissioned with the start-up of the Ngangaju plant at Pilgangoora and average realised selling prices rose 61% to US$4,267/dmt, with a record sale of US$7017/t on a 6% Li2O equivalent basis in one of the company’s patented Battery Materials Exchange auctions.

“It’s great to have that capital project approved,” Henderson said. “The board has made it clear to us to drop the clutch and get on with the expansion.

“In this market it’s money for jam and we are positioned like none other to capitalise in this market.”

NEOMETALS (ASX:NMT)

At the company’s Lithium-ion Battery (LIB) Recycling Project operations commenced during the quarter at the commercial 10 tonnes per day (tpd) shredding and beneficiation (Spoke) plant in Hilchenbach, Germany, following receipt of operating permit.

Cornerstone LIB feedstock supply and intermediate ‘black mass’ product off-take agreements were secured, and the company signed a cooperation agreement with a Mercedes-Benz recycling subsidiary for the engineering, equipment supply and installation of a 10tpd Spoke and hydrometallurgical refinery (Hub) plant in Kuppenheim, Germany.

Plus, NMT completed the first stage of front-end engineering studies for the Stelco 50tpd Spoke plant in Hamilton Canada under a technology licensing and JV ‘buy-in’ option agreement.

ZENITH MINERALS (ASX:ZNC)

During the quarter, Zenith’s maiden drill testing at the Split Rocks project in WA returned results including 20m at 1.0% Li2O, including10m at 1.7% Li2O.

oA program of 45 initial RC holes (~9,000 metres) has commenced to follow-up on the thick, high-grade lithium mineralisation.

Plus, drilling at the Waratah Well project retruned 7m at 0.67% Li2O, with 2,000m of follow up drilling planned.

And the Australian Lithium Alliance (which is 40% ZNC, 60% EV Metals) is gearing up to test the Mt Ida North lithium target in August.

LAKE RESOURCES (ASX:LKE)

Lake says Citi and JPMorgan were appointed joint coordinators for proposed debt finance of the Kachi Lithium project in Argentina during the quarter, and discussions continue with UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Export Development Canada (EDC) to support approximately 70% of the total finance required for Kachi’s expanded production.

The company is also advancing the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) continues to advance with final drafts expected toward the end of 3Q 2022, based on 50,000 tonnes per annum lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).

And more importantly, Lake says the Lilac demonstration plant has arrive on site – a bit of an -in-your-face to a sassy report from J Capital earlier this month who said the company put forth incorrect information on technical matters and inaccurate assertions on its progress to-date with Lilac.