The battery market - France (2024)

1.2 Asian hegemony on the world market

The global battery market was valued at $***.* billion in ****, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of **.*% to ****.

Sales forecast for the global battery market World, **** - ****, in $ billion Source: ****

The battery market, encompassing manufacturing, distribution and supply, is essential for many applications, including consumer electronics, automotive, renewable energy storage and industry. Growing demand for UPS (***) equipment in sectors such as healthcare, power generation and the chemical industry is expected to drive market growth.

In ****, the Asia-Pacific region dominated the market, generating over **.*% of revenues. lead-acid batteries, because of their reliability and low cost, are preferred for heavy-duty applications, while lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter and have a lower energy density, are favored for more demanding applications.lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter and have a lower energy density, have a wider range of uses, from smartphones to electric vehicles. the lithium-ion battery segment accounted for the largest share of the global market in ****, with **%.

In terms of applications, industrial batteries held a market share of **.*%, while automotive batteries accounted for **.*% of revenues. The market for batteries for electric vehicles (***) is largely dominated by Asian suppliers, despite efforts in the USA and Europe to increase domestic production. Indeed, by ****, over **% of ...

1.3 A growing French market

The French battery market is included in the electrical batteries and accumulators market corresponding to NAF code **.**. Sales have been rising since ****, with an increase of **.*% over six years. This growth is set to accelerate with the biggest year in terms of sales growth from **** to ****. This **.*% increase is explained by the rebound following a year **** marked by the global pandemic, which had a major impact on supply chains.

As data for **** and **** have not yet been updated by INSEE, we can still estimate the size of this market by projecting the CAGR of previous years. With annual growth of *.**% between **** and ****, we can estimate a market worth *.** billion euros in **** if conditions remain stable.

Sales in the battery and accumulator manufacturing market (***) France, ****-****, in billions of euros Source: ****

1.4 France is heavily dependent on imports

As it is not possible to obtain precise foreign trade figures for batteries, we will be looking at HS code ****: Batteries, electric cells and parts thereof (***), which includes batteries. This will give us the international trade trends in this sector.

Exports:

French exports of batteries by value France, **** - ****, in $ millions Source: ****

After a drop in exports in **** due to the health crisis (***).

French exports of batteries by volume France, **** - ****, in tonnes Source: ****

Export volumes follow the same trends as the values seen above. Thus, after a slight drop in **** (***).

Main buyers of French batteries and cell batteries World, ****, in tonnes and $ millions Source: ****

Germany is the main buyer by value and volume. It is followed by the United States, and then only by European countries. It can be seen that the ranking of the main buyers by value and volume is not the same, which means that the various countries do not pay the same prices, most probably because they do not buy the same products.

Imports:

French imports of batteries by value France, **** - ****, in millions of $ Source: ****

After a slow decline between **** and ****, export values rose to $*** million in **** (***).

French imports of batteries by volume France, **** - ...

2.1 Breakdown of batteries imported and exported by France

A look at the breakdown of batteries imported and exported by France gives an idea of French market demand. France mainly imports manganese dioxide batteries (***).

Types of batteries imported and exported France, ****, percentage Source: ****

By ****, the Massif Central will be home to one of Europe's largest lithium mines, designed to supply the electric battery industry. This initiative is aimed in particular at freeing the automotive sector from its dependence on oil. Imerys estimates that the deposit could produce up to one million tonnes of lithium oxide. This would enable the production of **,*** tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year from ****, for a minimum period of ** years. This would be enough to equip around ***,*** electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries every year. If these forecasts were confirmed, France would position itself as the world's second largest lithium producer, just behind Australia (***)[***].

As mentioned in the introduction, batteries have a variety of uses. We'll mention just a few of them in the following sections.

2.2 Growth in the number of electric cars in France

This strong demand for lithium-based batteries is partly explained by strong growth in French demand for electric and hybrid vehicles. Indeed, the number of sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in France grew slightly but steadily from **** to ****, then accelerated impressively between **** and **** with a CAGR of over ***%, before returning to solid but more stable growth of *% between **** and ****, reaching over ***,*** cars sold in the latter year.

Such growth can be explained both by government incentives and by the technological development of this type of car.

Electric car registrations in France France, ****-****, units Source: ****

According to the barometer of Avere, the national association for the development of electric mobility, the total number of electric cars on the road in August **** is ***,***[***].this demand is partly intensified by the introduction of incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles by the French government (***).

As we saw in *.*, the ten biggest producers of batteries for electric vehicles are Asian, and come from three countries: China, South Korea and Japan.

2.3 The development of battery-powered electricity storage in France

The energy storage sector in France is still in its infancy. Although hydraulic storage has been established since the ****s and ****s, public support for non-hydraulic storage, including battery storage, only began in the late ****s. Energy storage is essential for managing the flexibility of the energy system, responding to fluctuations in production and consumption on a daily, weekly or annual basis. It also plays a key role in supporting the expansion of renewable energies, which are often limited by their intermittency[***].

The energy storage methods currently available are diverse and depend on technological capabilities. They include

hydroelectric storage, via lake-type hydroelectric power stations and pumped-storage energy transfer stations (***); non-hydraulic storage, which includes electrochemical storage via electric batteries, chemical storage via renewable or low-carbon hydrogen, and other forms of mechanical storage such as compressed air or inertia.

Batteries fall into two categories: stationary (***). Currently, the majority of electric vehicle models are equipped with batteries with a minimum capacity of ** kWh. However, some models have higher-capacity batteries, up to *** kWh [***]. As a result, the energy capacity of the French electric vehicle fleet ranges from **.* to **.* million kWh.

Batteries are also divided into primary (***). Before recycling, electric vehicle batteries can be connected to ...

3.1 The battery value chain

The following diagram details the battery value chain. The figures given for the main locations of the various production stages are taken from the UN Unctad Commodities at a glance **** benchmark study.

Source: ****

The following table gives details of the main companies involved in the various stages of battery production, as well as their country of origin.

3.2 The development of industry players in France

The number of establishments operating under NAF code **.**Z: Manufacture of batteries and electric accumulators has been growing for several years, reaching ** companies in **** (***).

trend in the number of establishments manufacturing batteries and electric accumulators France, **** - ****, in number of establishments Source: ****

The number of employees in the sector is also growing rapidly.

number of employees in the battery manufacturing sector France, **** - ****, in number of employees Source: ****

After declining slightly in **** due to the health crisis, the number of employees in the sector began to rise again in ****, reaching *,*** in **** (***).

Source: ****

The region with the most establishments is Ile de France (***). The distribution of employees is also heterogeneous, but is distributed differently than the sector's establishments.

Source: ****

The region with by far the most employees in this sector is Nouvelle-Aquitaine (***).

3.3 The emergence of French battery start-ups

The number of French start-ups in the battery sector is on the rise, a sign that France not only wants to see the sector develop, but also intends to participate in it.

The best-known and most talked-about startup is Verkor, a company specializing in the production of low-carbon batteries, which was founded in **** and has just raised * billion euros. Last June, it inaugurated its high-power battery pilot plant in Grenoble. In addition, Verkor plans to open a plant in Dunkirk by ****, which is expected to create *,*** direct jobs and initially produce ** GWh per year, rising to ** GWh by ****. The company is backed by major shareholders such as Schneider Electric, Capgemini and Renault. Indeed, Renault has established a long-term partnership with Verkor to supply ** GWh per year of high-performance, low-carbon batteries. These batteries will be used in some of its top-of-the-range vehicles, including Alpine's future ***% electric C-Crossover GT from ****. Verkor, regarded as a symbol of reindustrialization, is closely watched by the French government. The plant's mission is to support the French automotive industry in its quest to produce two million electric cars in France by ****. This goal comes after many years of relocation in the sector[***].

Promising start-ups in the battery sector ...

3.4 Strategic positions for battery pack production by automakers

As the battery is one of the most expensive components in an electric vehicle, its production is a crucial issue for automakers.

However, there are different strategies in the industry. While Tesla seeks to produce its batteries in-house at its Gigafactories, other players prefer to outsource battery production to some degree.this is the case, for example, with BMW, which wishes to retain control over the integration of cells into the battery pack, while working with Asian companies for cell production. Between now and ****, BMW is expected to purchase ** billion euros worth of cells from CATL and Samsung. The German automaker is nevertheless investing with these Asian manufacturers to develop cell production in Germany[***].

Renault has adopted a similar strategy, outsourcing battery production to the Chinese group Envision AESC at a plant on French soil. The Sino-Japanese industrialist, having announced its plans for ****, is building a plant in Douai, with a capacity of * GWh. The plant is located within ElectriCity, the French carmaker's electric car production hub. Renault plans to produce more than ***,*** electric cars annually from ****, according to information released the previous year. However, AESC's * GWh of battery production will not be sufficient to meet this demand. Consequently, the most ...

4.1 Typology of batteries on the market

Source: ****

4.2 Review of batteries marketed in France

It can be seen that lithium-based batteries account for almost **% of the total number of units put on the market, followed by nickel-metal-hydride batteries at **%. Lead-acid batteries account for less than *%. Interestingly, the greater weight of lead-acid batteries can be seen in the mass distribution of accumulators on sale, since lead-acid batteries account for **% of the total mass of accumulators. Nickel-cadmium batteries also account for a very small share of the total.

Breakdown of battery types placed on the market France, ****, in percent Source: ****

strong concentration of supply in portable batteries

Batteries and accumulators placed on the market by application France, ****-****, in millions of units Source: ****

specialization of companies

French market supply by producer status France, ****, percentage Source: ****

4.3 Price trends for lithium-ion batteries

Between **** and ****, the average price of a battery pack for an electric vehicle fell by **%. This trend is consistent with the following graph, which details the price evolution of lithium-ion batteries, the most widely used by electric vehicle manufacturers. The price breakdown between battery cells and the block in which they are integrated is also shown.

Above all, we can see a sharp drop in the price of both elements from **** to ****, followed by stabilization, and a slight increase in ****. The two curves also converge, mainly due to the development of "cell-to-pack" technologies that modify the way cells are integrated into their pack within the battery. Prices continued to fall in ****, notably with the development of cheaper cathodes in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and the reduction in the use of cobalt in nickel-based cathodes.

However, the relatively inexpensive lithium-iron-phosphate technology is strongly linked to the price of lithium carbonate. As a result, the recent rise in the latter has led to a **-**% increase in the price of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries from Chinese manufacturers since September ****.

Lithium-ion battery prices World, ****-****, in $/kWh Source: ****

Rising costs of raw materials and battery components, coupled with inflation, have led to the first rise in lithium-ion battery ...

4.4 Raw materials prices

Battery manufacture relies onthe use of materials of varying raritylead, cobalt, lithium, zinc and nickel. It can therefore be interesting to look at the evolution of available prices - the price of lithium, for example, is not public. Prices for all materials peak in March ****, corresponding to the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. There is also a rise at the beginning of ****, followed by a smooth decline over the long term until the end of summer ****.

Nickel price :

Nickel price per tonne World, ****-****, US$ Source: ****

Lead prices:

Price per tonne of lead World, ****-****, US$ Source: ****

Zinc prices:

Price per tonne of zinc World, ****-****, US$ Source: ****

5.1 European legislation on batteries and accumulators and their waste

The primary aim of Directive ****/**/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators is to "limit the negative impact of batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators on the environment, thus contributing to the protection, preservation and improvement of the quality of the environment".of batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators on the environment, thus contributing to the protection, preservation and improvement of the quality of the environment". This **** directive already prohibited "the placing on the market of certain batteries and accumulators containing mercury or cadmium" and encouraged "a high level of collection and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators, as well as an improvement in the environmental performance of all actors in the battery and accumulator life cycle". This directive also made a distinction at European level between portable batteries and accumulators, on the one hand, and industrial and automotive batteries and accumulators, on the other, by prohibiting "the landfilling of industrial and automotive batteries and accumulators or their disposal by incineration".

In line with this directive, the European Commission has also produced the following texts:

decision ****/***/EC sets out a common method for calculating annual sales ...

5.2 French government subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles

Decree no. ****-*** of May **, **** on aid for the acquisition or leasing of low-polluting vehicles offers €*,*** in aid to private buyers of an electric car or utility vehicle, and €*,*** for companies. A €*,*** bonus is also available for plug-in hybrid cars. This aid is part of the automotive recovery plan announced by Emmanuel Macron in ****.

For hybrid cars, the bonus is awarded if the following conditions are met:

cO* emissions between ** and ** g/km acquisition cost less than or equal to €**,*** incl. VAT electric range greater than ** km

Source: ****

6. Segmentation

• Tesla
• CATL
• LG Chem
• Theion
• Verkor
• Viridian Lithium
• Green Corp Konnection GCK
• Vulcan Energy
• Blue Solutions (Bolloré Groupe)
• Alteo
• Iten
• Panasonic
• Tiamat Energy
• Eramet
• Tyva Energie
• Li-Cycle
• Limatech
• Inocel
• Glencore
• Neogy (Startec Energy Groupe)
• GS Yuasa
• BYD
• Foresee Power
• Batteries Prod
• Vélo Batterie- Batteries Prod
• Toyota
• Stellantis (Groupe PSA et Fiat)
• Volkswagen Group
• Audi (Volkswagen Group)
• Tata Group
• Bolloré
• Mecaware
• Nawa Technologies
• BMW
• Samsung Group
• SK Group Korea
• Nissan
• Arkema groupe
• Mob-Energy
• Batconnect
• Hydrovolt
• Wattalps
• Vlad