Australia’s first battery gigafactory?

The Australian Financial Review today wrote about this plan to build a battery gigafactory in Tomago.

An interesting take on Australia's comparative advantage. I would have thought (in fact we analysed this a couple of years ago in terms of the economics) that Australia is very well positioned to produce CAM, or at least pCAM, for nickel-rich lithium ion batteries. Possibly manganese-rich ones too. The reason for that is not only availability of raw materials, the critical metals, but also abundant clean energy potential. Localisation of cell and battery pack assembly is trickier, and distance to markets and local content regulations in those markets probably mean being a major supplier to EV makers in Europe or North America wouldn't work.

At Surrey Hills Strategy, these are the kind of questions we just love to help investors and principals figure out. While we use the same tools and people, we are far cheaper than the big consultants, meaning you can work at your pace rather than theirs, and remain firmly in control.

Linked story in the Australian Financial Review: Australian battery gigafactory