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Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Second-life EV batteries might play standout role in satisfying booming energy demand
SPARKS, Nev. — A little more than two years ago, JB Straubel began exploring the potential of second-life electric vehicle batteries in energy storage applications. His first test: powering a microgrid that runs the electricity at his home. 'It's a whole family experiment,' he said. Now Straubel, CEO of battery recycling and reuse company Redwood Materials, has embarked on a more ambitious path. His company has fashioned a microgrid in the Nevada desert out of 792 repurposed EV battery packs from manufacturers including Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen, among others. Redwood bills this as the largest second-life battery deployment in North America. It holds 12 megawatts and 63 megawatt-hours of energy capacity, which feeds an artificial intelligence data center built on site. An adjacent solar array provides energy. Straubel said bigger projects are on the horizon. Sign up for the weekly Automotive News Mobility Report newsletter for the latest developments at the intersection of transportation and technology. The size of Redwood's microgrid and the scope of the company's forthcoming plans have prompted a fresh look at the potential of repurposed EV batteries to serve as capable storage devices while an energy boom sparked by AI is underway. AI data centers are demanding more electricity. They already claimed 4.4 percent of U.S. electricity in 2024, according to the Department of Energy, and that could jump as high as 12 percent by 2028. That means in just three years, data centers could devour as much as 580 terawatt-hours of electricity. Energy system providers have installed a record number of energy storage systems in North America in the first half of 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group. The firm estimates that demand will grow from 52 gigawatt hours of capacity this year to 90 GWh at the end of the decade. Second-life EV batteries are a piece of that puzzle. 'Retired EV batteries will make a dent in upcoming storage needs,' said Jessica Dunn, a scientist in the clean transportation program with the Union of Concerned Scientists. But if a critical mass with enough remaining capacity exists, some wonder if harvesting batteries of multiple chemistries and slotting them into storage systems translates into a healthy business. They must be priced far more favorably than brand-new systems, which offer the advantage of higher reliability and less-frequent maintenance. Historically, second life has been a dicey value proposition, said Nathan Niese, global lead for EVs and energy storage at Boston Consulting Group. 'The premise makes a ton of sense,' he said. 'What has been tricky up to this point has been getting the economics right.' Redwood believes an inflection point has arrived. It has started a business division called Redwood Energy that's dedicated to repurposing batteries in storage applications. Its business case is buoyed by its position as a leading battery recycler, Straubel said. The company said it receives about 90 percent of all lithium ion batteries and battery materials recycled in North America. Sheer scale is a 'compelling' part of the business case, Straubel said, that allows Redwood to provide second-life storage at low dollar-per-kilowatt-hour costs. The company expects to have more than 5 gWh of capacity over the next 12 months. Even without such scale, others in the burgeoning second-life battery industry see favorable business conditions forming, especially as industry leaders and government officials seek domestic supply chains for battery materials. 'To really retain those strategic materials in the United States, you have to commit to reuse before recycling,' said Antoni Tong, CEO of Smartville, a San Diego battery startup that builds energy storage systems with repurposed EV batteries sourced from automakers, suppliers and fleets. 'Otherwise, the country with the lower labor costs will gobble up the materials.' Tariffs could give America's fledgling battery repurposing industry a tailwind, Straubel said. In particular, decreased imports of lithium iron phosphate batteries from China mean growing interest in feedstock already here. 'It makes this look extremely more competitive,' he said. But provisions in the 'Big Beautiful Bill' signed by President Donald Trump this month could introduce a countervailing effect by phasing out tax credits for wind and solar energy by the end of 2027. Battery storage is often paired with wind and solar energy sources to minimize intermittency. Further, the removal of EV tax credits could hurt the supply of used batteries down the road. 'We'll have a slower uptake of EVs without the tax credit,' Dunn said. 'We'll probably adjust our forecast. But it's not going to stop the industry. … This transition to lower-carbon technologies is happening.' Redwood may be the biggest mover in the battery repurposing space, but it is not the first. 'We've seen this coming for a long time,' Tong said. 'To really get the full value of circularity, you need to get the highest use of batteries before grinding them down for their material value.' Last December, Smartville outfitted Nissan's North American headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., with a 500-KWh energy-storage system comprising used batteries from the Nissan Leaf EV. Nissan also supplies B2U Storage Solutions, another California second-life startup, with used batteries. Among other projects, the company has operated a 3-MW, 28-MWh hybrid storage system that uses 1,300 repurposed EV batteries in Lancaster, Calif., since 2020. The system is a hybrid; it is powered by energy from the grid and a solar installation. Element Energy opened a 53-MWh storage facility in Texas in February 2024 comprising 900 used EV batteries. It provides power to the state's grid under the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, representing about 90 percent of the electric load in Texas. Straubel eschews grid connections, at least for now, in favor of speed. Redwood needed no permits for its installation. Grid connections, backup generators and pouring concrete may have all required permits. Without the need for them, Redwood and Crusoe, its AI data center partner, completed the microgrid in less than five months, Straubel said. 'We built this whole thing without even needing to really go through an approval process,' he said. 'You can deploy this very fast.' 'It's a bit fortuitous that we find ourselves built in the middle of this particular datacenter Mecca.' The likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft are all building data centers down the road from Redwood in this otherwise-barren desert environment. They would make logical targets for the company's next installation, though Straubel did not detail next steps. 'It's a bit fortuitous that we find ourselves built in the middle of this particular data-center mecca,' he said. Whether here or in other hotspots like Texas, he is confident the company's new microgrid is a first step of many more ahead in giving EV batteries a new lease on life in energy storage. 'We'll absolutely see much larger deployments of this,' Straubel said. 'We are actively engineering and working on those projects today.' Have an opinion about this story? Tell us about it and we may publish it in print. Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
As EV growth cools, LG Energy turns to batteries for energy storage systems
HOLLAND, Mich. — LG Energy Solution, one of the top suppliers of batteries for electric vehicles, is expanding to power the electric grid and artificial intelligence data centers. In May, the company began producing lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage systems alongside the electric vehicle batteries it makes here in western Michigan. LG Energy sees energy storage batteries as a growth driver amid cooling EV sales growth and heightened uncertainty in the auto industry, said Jaehong Park, CEO of LG Energy Solution Vertech, the company's energy storage unit. 'It's a vital and strategic move under current economic uncertainty and supply chain issues,' Park said at a June 24 event marking the start of the company's energy storage system battery production. It wasn't long ago that LG Energy also planned for significant new EV battery production here. In 2023, LG Energy announced a $3 billion expansion of its EV battery production here to supply Toyota. But when General Motors backed out of a joint venture battery plant about 90 miles east in Lansing, Mich., LG Energy decided to make Toyota's batteries there. Now, Holland appears poised for growth outside the auto industry. It has spent $1.4 billion to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage systems here. It's a choice that reflects dynamics in both industries. Sign up for the weekly Automotive News Mobility Report newsletter for the latest developments at the intersection of transportation and technology. Automakers are rethinking their North American electrification plans, scaling back production targets and delaying programs amid softer-than-expected EV sales growth. That's forcing LG and other major battery producers to pivot. But as EV investments cool in North America, the need for clean energy storage is rising as the U.S. power grid comes under increasing strain and as more artificial intelligence data centers come online, LG executives said. The Holland factory is the first of LG Energy's facilities in North America to produce LFP batteries for energy storage. The factory, LG Energy's oldest in North America, often serves as a model for its other plants in the region, making more dual-purpose factories a possibility as it adjusts to changing market conditions, executives said. The Holland factory 'has been through several different administrations, and it's been through several different ups and downs in the auto industry,' said Bob Lee, the North American president of LG Energy Solution. 'And now I think we're demonstrating a certain sense of resilience by moving into production of LFP cells for storage systems.' LG Energy is increasingly bullish on batteries for energy storage systems, as evidenced by annual production capacity in Holland. Its annual battery capacity for energy storage systems will stand at 16.5 gigawatt-hours per year, more than triple the 5 GWh per year it dedicates to EV battery production there. 'The growing part of our business is now providing batteries to energy storage systems,' Lee said. That's a shift for LG Energy, which has joint ventures with automakers including GM, Honda and Hyundai. 'When it came to the financial performance of the past, the EV market was 10 times bigger than' energy storage systems, Park said. 'That was the history until yesterday.' To be sure, LG Energy still sees opportunities for growth in the North American EV market. The Holland plant will also produce battery cells and modules for the Ford Mustang Mach-E, onshoring production from a facility in Poland, the company said. And most of its facilities in the U.S. remain committed to supplying EVs. The future of the EV market has only grown more uncertain in recent weeks. Congressional Republicans are deliberating how to end the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs and plug-in hybrids as they craft a budget bill. LG Energy hopes rising energy storage demand will help offset further declines in EV sales growth. 'This is going to be an important, stable business opportunity,' Lee said. Lee will be a speaker at the 2025 Automotive News Congress in Detroit this September. Click here for tickets and more information. He will also join Automotive News for a LinkedIn Live conversation on June 30. Have an opinion about this story? Tell us about it and we may publish it in print. Click here to submit a letter to the editor. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Mid East Info
24-06-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
EMR June 2025: 5G and FWA accelerating Gulf region's digital ambitions
5G subscriptions to top 2.9 billion globally by the end of 2025 and 5G networks forecast to handle 80 percent of global mobile traffic by the end of 2030. In the Gulf, 5G is expected to constitute 90 percent of all mobile subscriptions, totaling 86 million in 2030. Adoption of FWA is propelled by the demand for high-speed broadband alternatives and national ambitions for smart cities. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) continues to grow in appeal to communications service providers (CSPs) around the world, with the ability to offer speed-based tariff plans – enhanced by 5G capabilities – proving particularly attractive, the June 2025 Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Mobility Report shows. FWA is projected to account for more than 35 percent of new fixed broadband connections, with an expected increase to 350 million by the end of 2030. 5G FWA plays a crucial role in expanding broadband access, especially in areas where traditional wired infrastructure may be less feasible. On 5G subscriptions, the June 2025 Ericsson Mobility Report forecasts subscriptions to top 2.9 billion globally by the end of 2025 – about one third of all mobile subscriptions. The 5G subscription forecast for the end of 2030 remains at 6.3 billion. 5G networks handled 35 percent of global mobile traffic by the end of 2024, with forecasters expecting the figure to top 80 percent by the end of 2030. Service providers in the Gulf region are transitioning from traditional telcos to digital service providers, enabled by extensive 5G deployment and the adoption of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing and edge solutions. Network slicing, supported by programmable networks and open APIs, is expected to be a cornerstone in delivering customized and performance-sensitive services. From 2024 to 2030, mobile subscriptions in GCC countries are expected to grow at an annual rate of 3 percent, reaching 95 million. By the end of the decade, 5G subscriptions are expected to comprise 90 percent of all mobile subscriptions, totaling 86 million. FWA adoption is driven by demand for high-speed alternatives to fixed broadband and national initiatives aimed at reaching underserved areas and supporting smart city ambitions. Through commentary, insights and customer/partner case stories, the June 2025 EMR highlights the ability of 5G Standalone (5G SA) and 5G Advanced to create monetization opportunities for CSPs globally based on value delivery rather than data volume. The report highlights how CSPs are pursuing new commercial opportunities by offering differentiated connectivity services to consumers, enterprises and public authorities. Use cases include broadcast/video production, point of sale systems, events/arenas, gaming, fixed wireless access, virtual private networks, and enterprise productivity. Deeper dive articles include: Study on how GenAI will impact future mobile network traffic. Only applications with high adoption and high data rate requirements will impact mobile network traffic growth globally. Article co-written with Sony on how the company continually works with new and disruptive technologies to enhance the entertainment businesses. Dynamic slicing, in combination with Quality on Demand QoD APIs, will enable live media production over mobile networks, delivering great user experiences. Petra Schirren, President of Ericsson Gulf at Ericsson Europe, Middle East and Africa, says: 'The Gulf region is notable for its high 5G penetration, high levels of urbanization and high digital ambitions. The June 2025 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report expects 5G adoption in the Gulf to reach 90 percent of mobile subscriptions by 2030. Service providers are evolving into TechCos for a smarter, more connected future and are delivering customized, high-performance experiences for their users, powered by next-gen technologies like artifical intelligence and cloud computing. Fixed Wireless Access is also playing a transformative role, helping bridge connectivity gaps and turning smart city visions into reality across the region.'
Time of India
24-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
5G subscriptions in India to grow to 980 million by 2030: Ericsson report
NEW DELHI: India's fifth-generation ( 5G ) subscriptions are expected to grow from 290 million at the end of last year to 980 million by 2030, accounting for 75% of all mobile users by then, according to Ericsson . While 4G remains the dominant subscription type with a 53% share as of end-2024, compared to 5G's 24%, it is forecast to decline from 620 million to 230 million in 2030 as subscribers migrate to latest networks, said the Swedish gear maker in its June 2025 edition of the Mobility Report released on Tuesday. Ericsson said that India currently leads global levels with the highest data usage per smartphone at 32GB per month, and may reach 62GB by the end of the forecast period, driven by rising data demand, widespread mid-band spectrum availability, increasing 5G smartphone adoption, and expanding 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) rollouts. India's top telecom carriers, Reliance Jio , Bharti Airtel , and Vodafone Idea (Vi,) presently offer commercial 5G services. Jio and Airtel are the only operators that sell their respective 5G FWA solutions in the country to earn revenue from the latest generation networks. Ericsson said that 5G mid-band networks now cover 95% of India's population as of end-2024. The vendor noted in its report that the strong need for accessible broadband, especially in rural and semi-urban regions, is driving Indian telcos to expand their 5G FWA footprints at pace, noting that the 5G mid-band spectrum in the country is well-suited to deliver both capacity and coverage. 'At Ericsson, we are proud to support the country's digitalisation based on the strong 4G and 5G infrastructure that we have set up in the country together with our partners, the communication service providers that is enabling connectivity and driving inclusive growth in the country,' said Nitin Bansal, managing director, Ericsson India. Globally, 5G subscriptions may reach 2.9 billion by the end of 2025, or about one-third of all mobile subscriptions. The 5G subscription forecast for the end of 2030 remains unchanged at 6.3 billion, the vendor said in its report. As per the study, telcos are pursuing new commercial opportunities by offering differentiated connectivity services to consumers, enterprises and public authorities. Use cases include broadcast and video production, point of sale systems, events/arenas, gaming, FWA, virtual private networks, and enterprise productivity. 'Service providers have recognised this potential of 5G and are beginning to monetise it through innovative service offerings that extend beyond merely selling data plans. To fully realise the potential of 5G, it is essential to continue deploying 5G SA and to further build out mid-band sites. 5G SA capabilities serve as a catalyst for driving new business growth opportunities,' said Erik Ekudden, senior vice president & chief technology officer (CTO), Ericsson.
TECHx
24-06-2025
- Business
- TECHx
Ericsson Reports 5G and FWA Growth in Gulf Region
Home » Smart Sectors » Telecom » Ericsson Reports 5G and FWA Growth in Gulf Region Ericsson has revealed new insights into 5G and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) trends in the June 2025 edition of its Mobility Report. The company highlighted strong momentum in 5G adoption and FWA deployment across the Gulf region and globally. According to the report, global 5G subscriptions are expected to exceed 2.9 billion by the end of 2025. By 2030, 5G networks are projected to handle 80 percent of global mobile traffic. In the Gulf, 5G is forecast to represent 90 percent of all mobile subscriptions by 2030, reaching 86 million. Ericsson noted that demand for high-speed broadband alternatives and national smart city goals are driving strong FWA adoption. FWA is set to make up over 35 percent of new fixed broadband connections, growing to 350 million by the end of 2030. The report emphasized the role of 5G FWA in expanding broadband coverage in areas where wired infrastructure is not feasible. Ericsson also reported that 5G networks handled 35 percent of global mobile traffic by the end of 2024. This figure is expected to increase to more than 80 percent by 2030. In the Gulf, service providers are evolving from traditional telcos to digital service providers. This shift is being powered by technologies such as artificial intelligence, edge computing, cloud, and 5G. From 2024 to 2030, mobile subscriptions in GCC countries are projected to grow at an annual rate of 3 percent, reaching 95 million. By 2030, 5G will account for 90% of mobile subscriptions in the Gulf. FWA is helping close connectivity gaps and support smart city goals. Ericsson reported that CSPs are also exploring monetization opportunities through 5G Standalone (5G SA) and 5G Advanced. These enable new services based on quality and performance instead of just data volume. The report includes use cases for sectors such as gaming, live events, point-of-sale, VPNs, and media production. It also features a study on how Generative AI may impact mobile network traffic and a collaborative article with Sony. The article highlights how dynamic slicing and QoD APIs can enhance live media production over 5G. Petra Schirren, President of Ericsson Gulf at Ericsson Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the region is characterized by high 5G penetration and digital ambition. She noted that Gulf service providers are delivering customized experiences powered by advanced technologies like AI and FWA.
