It was recently reported that Fortum, a Finnish state-owned energy service provider, has launched and operated lithium-ion battery recycling technology, which can significantly reduce its impact on the environment.

　　Fortum says up to 80% of electric vehicle lithium batteries can be recycled

　　Fortum says it can recycle up to 80% of batteries, primarily high-energy-density NMC batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs), using hydrometallurgical processes. After battery materials such as plastic, copper and aluminum are removed through conventional methods, the remaining "black mass" is a slurry mixture of lithium, manganese and cobalt.

　　Fortum claims to have developed a unique process for recycling these valuable battery materials and achieved industrial-scale recycling at a facility in Harjavalta, Finland. Startup Crisolteq developed the technology for Fortum.

　　Fortum is also trying to repurpose electric vehicle secondary batteries into stationary energy storage systems. Many manufacturers of stationary energy storage systems prefer lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which have lower energy density than NMC batteries and do not have the risk of thermal runaway and do not require the use of cobalt in battery production.

　　Some stationary energy storage companies using NMC batteries experienced product shortages last year. Still, NMC batteries often have an upfront cost advantage and can be repurposed.

　　Bloomberg NEF recently released a level cost of energy (LCOE) survey report stating that the level cost of energy (LCOE) of lithium-ion batteries has dropped 35% since the first quarter of 2018 to $187 per megawatt hour. Fortum also called for the need to set higher recycling targets through policies, while the current EU battery recycling target only requires 50%. The company claims that using recycled materials can reduce carbon emissions during battery production by 90%.

　　Fortum is also the implementer of the largest battery energy storage project in the Nordic region so far, and announced that it will deploy a 6.2MWh battery energy storage system at a hydropower station in Sweden in November this year.

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