The majority-state-owned company Y-TEC is set to open its first industrial-scale lithium battery plant in the city of La Plata, in Buenos Aires province. The facility arrives after several years of research and US$10 million of investment that allowed the company to carry out laboratory work and first test the feasibility of the project at a pilot plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a milestone for us,\u201d Y-TEC president Roberto Salvarezza tells Di\u00e1logo Chino. The battery facility\u2019s opening, he says, shows the progress the company has made to reach \u201ctotal knowledge of the technology\u201d and allow industrial-scale production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plant will have an annual capacity of 15 megawatt hours of battery power, which is equivalent to the amount of energy needed to run 2,500 homes or 400 electric vehicles for 12 months, Y-TEC says. However, the company will reportedly not target the auto industry initially, instead prioritising energy storage for mobile army radar and remote, rural locations not connected to the national grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is an historic event, as it settles the debate on the possibility of making batteries in Argentina,\u201d says Hern\u00e1n Letcher, vice-president of Y-TEC\u2019s controlling company, YPF Litio. \u201cNow we move on to another debate, which is in which market we are going to place them. I think we can make batteries for renewable energy storage in isolated communities and, in the future, target the regional electromobility market.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Argentina currently has three operational plants to produce lithium carbonate, the key component of lithium-ion batteries. But as many as 38 projects<\/a> concentrated in the country\u2019s north-west are in the exploratory stage and could start production in the next five years. In 2022, some 33,000 tonnes<\/a> of lithium carbonate were produced \u2013 around 5% of global production. Given the magnitude of Argentina’s resources, this position could escalate rapidly: the country is estimated to be home to nearly 25%<\/a> of the world\u2019s lithium resources, placing it second in the world after Bolivia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to data<\/a> from Argentina\u2019s economy ministry, 42% of the country\u2019s lithium production in 2022 was exported to China, the world leader in electric vehicle manufacturing, which creates huge demand for the metal. In turn, China has so far played a significant role as an investor in lithium projects in Argentina. Chinese companies are part of various exploratory projects, and Ganfeng Lithium is an investor in the operational Cauchari-Olaroz plant<\/a> in Jujuy province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government\u2019s optimism over the prospect of adding value to Argentina\u2019s lithium production is contrasted with caution, even scepticism, from mining companies. Figures in the industry told Di\u00e1logo Chino about the long-term nature of such developments, and that the country must first focus on establishing itself as a reliable producer of lithium carbonate. This alone will require large investments and technical improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Jorge Gonz\u00e1lez, who heads up Argentina\u2019s directorate for the mining economy and its promotion, setting up a project to produce lithium carbonate requires a minimum of two years \u2013 not including the prospecting period \u2013 and requires an average investment of $400 million, depending on its size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the debates around the industrialisation of lithium, reluctance among mining companies is due to their mistrust of a national government that they argue has sought to take over part of their business. Representatives of such companies declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the issue. Off the record however, some expressed opposition to several legal proposals that would set a quota for a share of production to be procured for the domestic market at a lower price than their export value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most recent of these proposals was presented in May by left-wing congress members of the outgoing coalition, Frente de Todos (now Union por la Patria). The bill<\/a> proposed lithium as a \u201cstrategic resource\u201d and of \u201cnational public interest\u201d, and that the state should have the first say on acquiring extracted lithium, leaving only the surplus for the private sector. The initiative has been rejected by the provinces in which production is concentrated, which according to the Argentine constitution are the rightful owners of this resource; these provinces have set different regulations, notably less interventionist and more open to private capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the country\u2019s leading academic experts on lithium is Jos\u00e9 Gustavo Castro, vice-president of the Chamber of Mines of Salta province. He has devised courses on lithium production and sustainable mining at several universities in Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Castro welcomes Y-TEC\u2019s progress in moving up the lithium chain via research and development, he warns that \u201cit is very unlikely that Argentina will become a competitive country in the medium-term in battery manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery day there are new developments in this area and we are far behind the mega-factories in China, Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe,\u201d Castro adds. \u201cFor practical purposes, our advantage is the production of lithium carbonate and, from that, we can do a lot in terms of generating research, development and knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Castro, Argentina is potentially burdened by its industrialist heritage, which he says creates social pressure to manufacture batteries: \u201cIt is almost as if it were a sin not to do so, but this is not supported by reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a technological gap between having lithium and making batteries that is almost similar to saying that because we are producing aluminium in Puerto Madryn [in Argentina\u2019s south], we should be making Boeing 747s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Materials scientist Eleonora Erdmann is a researcher from the University of Salta. She says the attention on lithium processing often distracts from the importance of first achieving high-quality production of lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and lithium chloride. Should there be advances in the development of higher-energy technologies, such as solid-state batteries<\/a>, then raising the quality of this production \u201cwould also bring a level of technological know-how that can quickly become resilient\u201d. This know-how and resilience would \u201cgive time for technology transfer to adapt to changes that we cannot ignore in a globalised world,\u201d Erdmann adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the question of whether the country can compete in the regional battery market, there is another debate surrounding the battery technology chosen for production at the La Plata facility. For Sa\u00fal Feilbogen, a lawyer specialising in lithium who chaired November\u2019s Argentina & LATAM Lithium Summit in Buenos Aires, it is feasible that another technology will leapfrog the lithium-ion phosphate battery being produced by Y-TEC.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, there are two main types of batteries in competition. Lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) batteries \u2013 based on lithium ferrophosphate \u2013 make use of small sheets of iron phosphate. This is a much cheaper material, but one which offers less range for electric vehicles. The other type is NCA: batteries that use a cathode made of nickel, cobalt and aluminium oxides. These materials are more expensive, difficult to obtain and have a greater environmental impact. Their great advantage, however, is the higher capacity they offer when compared to LFPs of the same size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe technology is leaning towards cobalt, nickel and aluminium oxide batteries. If these are imposed, Argentina will be left out of the race because they are very expensive and scarce materials,\u201d Feilbogen warns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked by Di\u00e1logo Chino, Y-TEC defended its choice of battery, pointing to LFP technology being chosen by Tesla, Volkswagen and Ford. \u201cEurope is currently building large factories of this type. Nobody invests millions of dollars if they are thinking about a technological change in the short-term. It is the cheapest technology, the safest and the one with the longest lifespan,\u201d says Salvarezza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However important it may be as the first link in Argentina\u2019s technological development, one plant with a 15 MWh capacity is far below the magnitude that is planned \u2013 and operational \u2013 across the global industry, where installed capacity is often 100 times greater in order to gain cost efficiency through scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPrivate sector doubts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"White](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Argentina-lithium-salt-flats-protest-sign_Alamy_2RNTPKX.jpg\")
<\/div>Having lithium and making batteries is similar to saying that because we are producing aluminium in Puerto Madryn, we should be making Boeing 747s<\/blockquote>Jos\u00e9 Gustavo Castro, Chamber of Mines, Salta province<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
What next for Argentina?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Satellite](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/salar-Olaroz_Jujuy_Argentine_2023_Google-earth-pro_airbus_maxar_technologies.jpg\")
<\/div>