EBI News for September 06, 2023 – Cirba and DOE mark expansion of lithium-ion battery recycling
EBI News for September 06, 2023 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Cirba and DOE mark expansion of lithium-ion battery recycling, acquisitions, and more!
Michael Baker buys emergency and disaster management consultancy
Michael Baker International (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has acquired Tidal Basin (Utica, N.Y.), a provider of services in disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, and program management. Founded in 1985, Tidal Basin has seven offices and in 2022 reported “remarkable growth” and the addition of 460 professionals. The two firms have a history of working together, including planning projects targeting wildfires in California and infrastructure projects in Colorado and New York. According to Michael Baker, growth opportunities exist through the strong relationship both organizations have with FEMA, while pursuing additional business across all federal agencies. Tidal Basin will operate as a standalone sister company.
Redwood raises more than $1B in Series D
Battery recycling startup Redwood Materials (Carson City, Nev.) has raised more than $1 billion in Series D shares in a round co-led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, and T. Rowe Price funds. Redwood will use the funding to continue building capacity, expanding the domestic battery supply chain and allowing customers to purchase battery materials made in the United States for the first time. To date, Redwood has raised nearly $2 billion of equity capital along with an additional $2 billion loan commitment from the Department of Energy. The company was founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel. Most battery materials are currently sourced or produced in China.
Cirba and DOE mark expansion of lithium-ion battery recycling
Cirba Solutions (Charlotte, N.C.), a battery materials and management company, is receiving $82 million from the DOE to expand its lithium-ion processing operations in Lancaster, Ohio. The more than $200-million expansion is slated to support the circular battery supply chain and advance cost-effective lithium-ion battery processing and critical materials supply. Cirba Solutions is also adding a hydrometallurgical process to produce battery grade metal salts from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and gigafactory scrap.
Morrissey Goodale reports second most active H1 on record
Morrissey Goodale tracked 226 deals in the U.S. A/E and environmental industry in the first half (H1) of 2023, representing a 14% decrease over the same period a year earlier but still higher than pre-2022 levels. The firm’s 2023 M&A Mid-Year Review found consolidation to be consistently strong across all markets in H1, but engineering and environmental firms with records in transportation, water, and/or power saw the most interest from acquirers and investors. Employee-owned buyers drove the largest share of deals in H1, claiming 56% of all domestic acquisitions, followed by private equity-backed buyers at 35%, and publicly traded buyers at 9%. The median acquirer had revenues of $91 million, while the median seller had revenues of $3 million. Ten ENR Top 500 Design firms sold or recapitalized in H1 2023.
North America quadruples growth in wind turbine orders
Global wind turbine order intake reached new highs in H1 with 69.5 gigawatts (GW) of activity, a 12% increase year-over-year, according to new analysis from Wood Mackenzie. Orders from outside China saw more than 25 GW of demand for a 47% increase year-over-year through H1. North America saw orders reach 7.7 GW, more than quadrupling H1 2022’s total of 1.9 GW, with two offshore orders accounting for 49% of the total. China “overwhelmingly” remains the largest market, with 44 GW of activity in H1, but demand was flat year-over-year. In total, global orders accounted for $40.5 billion in H1 2023. Demand in the global offshore market, particularly in the United States and Europe, has been one of the main growth drivers, while improvements in the supply chain have helped spark procurement decisions, Wood Mackenzie reported.
Oscilla Power approaches launch of Triton-C
In preparation for launching its Triton-C wave energy converter (WEC), Oscilla Power (Seattle, Wash.) has completed two key steps: relocating the Triton-C and setting up the launch site at the Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii. These steps come ahead of a full commercial-scale demonstration after the U.S. Navy completes work on the test site. Triton-C will make ocean wave energy a cost-effective resource that can complement solar and wind in many locations worldwide including the West Coast, according to Oscilla Power, which says that its WEC system offers increased levels of energy capture, conversion efficiency, and survivability in the harsh ocean environment.
Offshore wind primed for rapid expansion in new markets
The global offshore wind industry delivered its second best year for new capacity in 2022, with 8.8 GW of new clean energy connected to the grid around the world, according to the Global Offshore Wind Report 2023 from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). The report forecasts that a “massive 380 GW of new offshore wind will be built by 2032” – nearly half of which will come from the Asia-Pacific region. More than 180 GW of capacity has been identified in the region outside of China, with Australia alone accounting for more than 50GW. While increasing its forecast for APAC, GWEC has downgraded its near-term forecast for Europe and North America by 17% due to delays caused by permitting and other regulatory issues, while supply chain bottlenecks are a risk for every region except China. Nonetheless, GWEC’s longer-term forecast offers the prospect of strong growth from 2028-32.
ERM to undertake ESIA for UK lithium mine
ERM (London, UK) has been appointed by Cornish Lithium in the UK to lead the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the Trelavour hard rock mine project in Cornwall. The project is a key step towards developing a domestic supply of lithium that will accelerate the UK’s path to net zero. The company said it is “helping to enable a modern-day renaissance of Cornwall’s 4,000-year mining heritage by aiming to extract lithium in an environmentally responsible manner from both geothermal waters and hard rock.” The lithium extracted is expected to produce around 8,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
U.S. solar and storage companies announce $100B in investments
Since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed one year ago, U.S. solar and storage companies have announced over $100 billion in private sector investments, according to analysis by the Solar Energy Industries Assn. (SEIA). Solar and storage manufacturing is surging in the United States, as 51 solar manufacturing facilities have been announced or expanded in the last year, SEIA reported. These new and expanded solar factories will invest nearly $20 billion in American communities and amount to 155 gigawatts (GW) of new production capacity across the solar supply chain. The SEIA estimated that by 2026 the United States will have over 17 times its current manufacturing capacity across modules, cells, wafers, ingots, and inverters when these announced factories are in operation, enough to supply a majority of solar projects expected to be built in the country.
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