TELF AG analyzes the industrial applications of nickel in modern energy technologies
An increasingly strategic resource
In the years of the global energy transition, nickel is emerging as one of the most sought-after and desired strategic resources due to the multiplicity of its industrial applications, some of which are directly connected to some of the primary energy infrastructures linked to the spread of renewable energy. One of the most appreciated applications, as far as nickel is concerned, is batteries connected to energy storage and electric vehicles, which can confer a greater energy density and capacity.
Over the years, nickel has facilitated the meeting between industry and clean energy deriving from renewable energy, thanks to its valuable structural properties. This peculiar silvery metal has always been used also to make objects of everyday use in various work environments, such as spoons, surgical instruments, cars, and jet engines, without forgetting its role in building equipment and the construction sector. Its most appreciated properties, over the years, have certainly been its high mechanical resistance, excellent thermal conductivity, and corrosion resistance.
But what is the modern role of nickel in the energy transition? According to a recent analysis of the potential of this resource, it is expected that the use of nickel could increase by 65% by the end of the decade and that during this year, the global demand for this resource could grow to 3.47 million tons, recording a specific increase compared to last year’s figures. According to the analysis, these data are primarily due to its use in the automotive sector, particularly in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. Today, the battery industry already represents the second largest application of this resource (immediately after steel production), with 465,000 metric tons. These data were also recently confirmed by the United States Global Survey, which indicates that alloys and steel still represent the main applications of nickel, as well as catalysts and chemical products. The battery sector, however, seems destined to climb this particular hierarchy rapidly. In fact, by 2040, as stated in the report, batteries could already surpass steel as the primary intended use of nickel.
The historical link between nickel and batteries
The use of nickel in this particular sector is not a novelty: the use of this resource in rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, but also the more durable nickel-metal-hydride ones, already in the 1980s, made it possible to manufacture smaller and more powerful devices. The use of nickel in the automotive sector began a few years later, in the 1990s, when nickel-metal-hydride batteries were mounted for the first time inside some hybrid vehicles.
However, the potential of this resource is certainly not limited to batteries alone, especially if we consider the characteristics of an era dominated by the increasingly evident diffusion of renewable energy. The construction of wind turbines and solar panels, in fact, also requires the use of special high-performance alloys made with nickel, which gives them the ability to resist high temperatures (especially for solar panels) and corrosion from atmospheric agents. According to estimates by the International Energy Forum, by 2050, the annual need for nickel related to energy transition technologies could reach a quantity between two and five metric tons (currently, the need for nickel in this field does not exceed one million metric tons per year).
