ORIGINAL PAPER
The EU’s demand for selected critical raw materials used in photovoltaic industry
1
Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
Submission date: 2022-04-28
Final revision date: 2022-06-06
Acceptance date: 2022-06-08
Publication date: 2022-06-28
Corresponding author
Katarzyna Guzik
Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi – Mineral Resources Management 2022;38(2):31-59
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
Scientific background of mineral resource managementResearch on mineral raw materials marketsRational and efficient development and utilization of mineral resourcesMineral policyImpact of mineral raw materials industries on the environmentEconomics of mineral industriesRational use of mineral raw materials
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of analyses of structure, volume and trends of demand for selected major critical raw materials (CRMs) suitable for the EU’s photovoltaic industry (PV). In order to achieve the EU’s goals in terms of the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and climate neutrality by 2050, the deployment of energy from renewable sources is of key importance. As a result, a substantial development of wind and solar technologies is expected. It is forecasted that increasing the production of PV panels will cause a significant growth in the demand for raw materials, including CRMs. Among these, silicon metal, gallium, germanium and indium were selected for detailed analyses while boron and phosphorus were excluded owing to small quantities being utilized in the PV sector. The estimated volume of the apparent consumption in the EU does not usually exceed 0.1 million tonnes for high purity silicon metal, a hundred tonnes for gallium and indium and several dozen tonnes for germanium. The major net-importers of analyzed CRMs were Germany, France, Spain, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Italy. The largest quantities of these metals have been utilized by Germany, France, Belgium, Slovakia and Italy. The PV applications constitute a marginal share in the total volume of analyzed metal total end-uses in the EU (10% for silicon metal, 5% for gallium, 13% for germanium and 9% for indium). As a result, there is a number of applications that compete for the same raw materials, particularly including the production of electronic equipment. The volume of the future demand for individual CRMs in PV sector will be strictly related to trends in the development of PV-panel production with crystalline silicon technology currently strongly dominating the global market.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper has been supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange under Grant No PPI/APM/2019/1/00079/U/001.
METADATA IN OTHER LANGUAGES:
Polish
Zapotrzebowanie UE na wybrane surowce krytyczne wykorzystywane w fotowoltaice
surowce krytyczne, energia odnawialna, fotowoltaika, popyt na surowce mineralne
W artykule przedstawiono wyniki analizy struktury, wielkości i trendów zapotrzebowania Unii Europejskiej (UE) na wybrane surowce krytyczne wykorzystywane w technologiach fotowoltaicznych. Dla osiągnięcia celów UE w zakresie ograniczenia emisji gazów cieplarnianych i uzyskania neutralności klimatycznej w perspektywie 2050 r. kluczowe znaczenie ma wykorzystanie energii ze źródeł odnawialnych. W efekcie prognozowany jest znaczny rozwój energetyki wiatrowej i słonecznej. Przewidywany wzrost produkcji paneli fotowoltaicznych skutkował będzie zwiększonym zapotrzebowaniem na surowce, w tym zaliczane do grupy krytycznych dla UE. Spośród nich do szczegółowych analiz wybrano krzem metaliczny, gal, german i ind, jednocześnie pomijając bor i fosfor, wykorzystywane w zastosowaniach fotowoltaicznych w niewielkich ilościach. Szacunkowe zużycie pozorne tych surowców w UE w ostatnich latach zwykle nie przekraczało 0,1 mln ton dla krzemu metalicznego o wysokiej czystości, 100 ton dla galu i indu oraz kilkadziesiąt ton w przypadku germanu. Głównymi ich importerami netto były Niemcy, Francja, Hiszpania, Czechy, Holandia, Słowacja i Włochy. Największe ilości analizowanych metali zużywane były przez Niemcy, Francję, Belgię, Słowację i Włochy. Produkcja paneli fotowoltaicznych stanowi niewielki udział w łącznych zastosowaniach końcowych krzemu (10%), galu (5%), germanu (13%) i indu (9%). W związku z tym wiele sektorów przemysłu, w tym m.in. sprzętu elektronicznego, konkuruje o dostawy tego samego materiału. Wielkość przyszłego zapotrzebowania na poszczególne surowce krytyczne w sektorze energii fotowoltaicznej będzie ściśle uzależniona od trendów rozwoju poszczególnych technologii produkcji paneli, z silnie dominującą obecnie na rynku technologią wykorzystującą krzem krystaliczny.
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| eISSN: | 2299-2324 |
| ISSN: | 0860-0953 |
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