Is Lithium Iron Phosphate facing another Challenge? Monomer energy density is lower than 180Wh/kg expansion or will be limited!

On November 18th, the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the people's Republic of China publicized the Lithium Ion Battery Industry Standard conditions (2021) (draft for soliciting opinions) (hereinafter referred to as "Specification conditions (2021)") and the measures for the Administration of Lithium Ion Battery Industry norms (2021) (draft for soliciting opinions).

"Code condition (2021)" proposes that for the newly built power battery project, the single energy density of the energy type power battery project should be ≥ 180Whhand kg, and the energy density of the battery pack should be ≥ 120Wh/kg. Considering that the current mainstream lithium iron phosphate battery monomer energy density is near 160Wh/kg, the formal release of the "specification condition (2021)" may have a certain impact on the expansion of lithium iron phosphate battery power project.

According to the understanding of Battery China, at present, the energy density of ternary battery is generally above 200Wh/kg, and the mainstream product has reached 250Whhand kg, which has fully met the requirements of "Specification condition (2021)". However, at present, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery is mostly near 160Wh/kg, so most of the products can not meet the basic threshold of 180Wh/kg required by "Specification condition (2021)".

However, in terms of the energy density of the battery pack, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery system is generally ≥ 140Whhand kg, which can meet the requirements of "Specification condition (2021)". However, considering that the two should be juxtaposed rather than meet one of them, if the existing draft of the "Code conditions (2021)" is officially released, it is expected to have a certain impact on the expansion of the lithium iron phosphate battery power project.

It is reported that at present, relatively few battery companies have announced that the energy density of lithium iron phosphate for vehicles can achieve 180Wh/kg, and only Guoxuan Hi-Tech has announced its progress in improving the energy density of lithium iron phosphate in recent years. Guoxuan Tech said it will mass-produce lithium iron phosphate battery products with energy density in 210Wh/kg by the end of this year.

In terms of energy storage batteries, the "Code condition (2021)" also requires that the energy density of the monomer ≥ 145 Whhand kg and the energy density of the battery pack ≥ 110Wh/kg. In terms of cycle life, the requirement is ≥ 5000 times and the capacity retention rate is ≥ 80%.

It is worth noting that the "Code conditions (2021)" also requires the product performance of the expansion project, such as cathode material, negative electrode material, electrolyte, diaphragm and so on.

For cathode materials, it is required that the specific capacity of lithium iron phosphate ≥ 150Ah / kg, the specific capacity of ternary materials ≥ 175Ah / kg, the specific capacity of lithium cobalt ≥ 170Ah / kg, and the specific capacity of lithium manganate ≥ 115Ah/kg.

In terms of negative electrode materials, the specific capacity of carbon (graphite) is ≥ 335 Ahmax kg, the specific capacity of amorphous carbon is ≥ 250 Ahmax kg, and the specific capacity of silicon and carbon is ≥ 420Ah/kg.

In terms of electrolyte, the water content is less than 20ppm, the hydrogen fluoride content is less than 50ppm, and the single metal impurity content is less than 1ppm.

In terms of separation, on the land for the construction of lithium battery projects, the "Standard conditions (2021)" also proposes that in the planned permanent basic farmland and ecological protection red line, as well as national laws and regulations, rules and regulations prohibit the construction of industrial enterprises in areas where the construction of lithium-ion batteries and supporting projects are prohibited. The existing enterprises in the above-mentioned areas shall be dismantled and closed in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations, or the scale shall be strictly controlled and gradually moved out.

In addition, the "normative conditions (2021)" said that the purpose of the document is to guide enterprises to reduce manufacturing projects that simply expand production capacity, strengthen technological innovation, improve product quality and reduce production costs.

Since the beginning of this year, the penetration rate of electric vehicles in China, Europe and the United States has increased rapidly. at the same time, with the implementation of the "double carbon" strategy, the industry speculates that the market demand for power and energy storage is expected to increase significantly in the next few years. Based on this, a number of battery companies have set off a wave of production expansion with a scale of dozens of GWh or even hundreds of GWh, and their respective planned capacity has exceeded 300GWh by 2025.

The "normative conditions (2021)" proposes that the document is intended to guide enterprises to reduce manufacturing projects that simply expand production capacity.

However, the "normative conditions (2021)" also indicates that this normative condition is a guiding document to encourage and guide the technological progress and normative development of the industry, and does not have the preposition and compulsion of administrative examination and approval. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the "Code condition (2021)" has a real impact on the expansion of lithium iron phosphate and lithium manganate whose monomer energy density is lower than 180Wh/kg.

In addition, the time for public consultation of the "normative conditions (2021)" (draft for soliciting opinions) is up to November 28th, so it is not yet an official document, and if there are different opinions or suggestions required by the "normative conditions (2021)", you can still give timely feedback.

It is worth mentioning that in 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission solicited opinions on the "regulations on Investment Management of the Automobile Industry". In the draft for soliciting opinions, it was proposed that "for the new power battery project, the specific energy of the energy-type vehicle power battery should not be less than 300Whgamkg, and the specific energy of the system should not be lower than 220Wh/kg," but considering that it was not feasible at that time and was not in line with the actual technological development. Later, in the official release of the "Automobile Industry Investment Management regulations", the requirement of this index was cancelled.

Therefore, the enterprises combined with their own and the actual situation of the industry, the feedback or feedback.