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S Korea picks operators for new energy storage rollout

  • Market: Battery materials, Electricity, Metals
  • 13/07/26

The South Korean government has selected nine operators for a new energy storage deployment project along transmission lines aimed at further integrating renewable energy into power grid, with additional projects planned.

The nine operators will install a total of 128MW/640MWh of energy storage systems (ESS) across 32 transmission lines, enabling the integration of an additional 182.4MW of solar power into the grid, South Korea's climate and energy ministry (Mcee) said on 10 July. The selected operators are VPP Lab, LG Energy Solution (LGES), KEPCO KDN, SK Eternix, HD Hyundai Electric, Gridwiz, Korea East-West Power, Korea Midland Power and Hyundai Engineering and Construction.

Each transmission line will be equipped with a 4MW/20MWh ESS installation capable of accommodating 5.7MW of solar power, Mcee said. Substations and distribution lines in regions such as Honam and Jeju, where renewable energy is abundant are facing capacity constraints. New solar power facilities are unable to connect to the grid and are being forced to wait, while connected facilities are curtailing power output. Using ESS as buffers can increase the country's existing grid capacity, alleviating significant costs, time and public acceptance burdens required for new transmission lines construction.

The ministry plans to deploy 700MW of ESS, connecting 1GW of renewable energy by 2030 through the project. The next round of call for proposals, scheduled for August, will encourage the use of next-generation batteries featuring longer lifespans, higher cycle durability and enhanced fire safety. The current round is focused on the ternary and lithium-iron-phosphate battery chemistries. The initiative will help open up new markets for its domestic energy storage industry, Mcee said.

South Korea's leading battery manufacturers — LGES, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation — have opted for aggressive ESS expansions as the electric vehicle (EV) market slows down. LGES earlier this year floated plans of potentially doubling its global ESS production capacity to 60GWh this year.

By Joseph Ho

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13/07/26

Philippines approves $164mn geothermal de-risking fund

Philippines approves $164mn geothermal de-risking fund

Singapore, 13 July (Argus) — The Philippines has approved a 10.1bn peso ($163.5mn) Philippine Geothermal Resource Derisking Facility (PGRDF), aiming to incentivise private investment, accelerate geothermal development and strengthen long-term energy security. The PGRDF was approved during the Philippines' Economy and Development Council's tenth meeting chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos last week, said the Philippines' Department of Energy (DOE). The initiative establishes a government-backed cost-sharing mechanism that reduces the financial risks of geothermal exploration — the most capital-intensive stage of project development — to encourage increased investment, said the DOE. De-risking the exploration stage will also allow viable prospects to move more quickly to project development, added the Philippines' energy secretary Sharon Garin. The de-risking fund also supports the Philippines' long-term energy security by exploiting a reliable, indigenous and weather-independent source of power, said the DOE. "We are widening the pipeline of investible geothermal opportunities, strengthening the resilience of our power system, and reducing our exposure to volatile imported fuel prices," Garin said about the PGRDF. The PGRDF supports the Philippines' aim to expand its renewable energy share to 35pc by 2030 and 50pc by 2040, said the DOE. The Philippines generated 117.9TWh of electricity in 2025 , 24.5pc of which was generated from renewable sources, according to data from independent electricity market operator IEMOP. Geothermal output came in at 9.8TWh in 2025, accounting for 8.3pc of the country's generation mix, IEMOP data show. The PGRDF builds on previous efforts from the DOE, which partnered with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2022 to develop a geothermal de-risking roadmap for the Philippines. The Philippines had the third-largest installed geothermal power capacity in the world in 2024, data from renewable energy watchdog the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) show. By Ishika Gupta Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Q&A: AMG Chrome talks US expansion

10/07/26
News
10/07/26

Q&A: AMG Chrome talks US expansion

Houston, 10 July (Argus) — AMG Critical Materials recently began production of chrome metal at its new plant in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Argus spoke with Kevin Lawson, president of the company's UK-based subsidiary AMG Chrome, on the expanded operations and trends in the chrome metal market. Edited highlights follow: What led AMG Critical Materials to open a chrome metal plant in the US? The key driver for us in the US is the designation of it as a critical material. We're aimed at onshoring critical materials to the US, because we foresee where the dynamic of the market is going geopolitically, and we have customers who are keen for us to invest into on-shoring and protecting their interests. What does the timeline look like for ramping up the Pennsylvania plant to full capacity? Netherlands-based AMG Critical Materials last month opened the 6,500 metric tonne (t)/yr capacity aluminothermic chrome metal production facility. We anticipate being at full capacity in the current site within the next eight weeks. At the moment, we're running one shift; everybody's new to the process and training. The key is to have control over the process. But more importantly, it's safe, and everybody's trained to a level, and then we will split them into two shifts, and thereafter it will be at capacity. Are there any noteworthy offtake agreements in place for the plant? We have many offtake agreements, but we are in deep discussion about a significant long-term offtake agreement now for the UK and US plants, and we believe it's going to require an expansion program or development of the UK and US plants. So, in terms of where we are now, potentially it could be three, four times what we need in quite short order. I'd like to keep it in the local area, because it's the industrial heartland and I think we've got a good name in New Castle and trained employees. But I think we're going to have to expand the facility we've got, because of the interest in the US market: a case of if we build it, they will come. Now we've got it, all customers understand the benefit of onshore material availability, but some markets are growing quite quickly, and they're looking to have secure volume on an offtake agreement. The interest has been quite high. The capacity of 6,500 tonnes, that's where we're running at a four-day week to get to that, and then clearly there's the option of running the other three days to ramp up again. We are looking at that. I'd like to walk before I run, get everybody trained and settled down, so that options are available quite quickly. At the moment, we're sold out in the UK, sold out in the US, which again lends itself to rapidly consider expansion. How long would it take to potentially triple or quadruple capacity? Once investment and commercial decisions are made, we could potentially fast-track this to about 18 months. What industries do you see driving chrome metal demand in 2026? The aerospace industry has become more selective in terms of their qualities and if they can get a lighter weight alloy, in terms of fuel economy of the jet engines. The fuel cell industry is a big industry now, serving the data centers, which is a new outlet for chrome, certainly not a traditional base for our market. Aerospace is growing. But fuel cell is growing somewhat exponentially. It's a massive market in terms of energy independence and being off grid, but aerospace is certainly picking up now. There was a constraint on Boeing's build rates, and that's opening up. Airbus is growing as well, so the whole aerospace market is growing, but it's not growing at the rate that we're seeing the fuel cell market. Are there any supply chain issues you anticipate that could disrupt aluminothermic chrome production, such as the war between the US and Iran disrupting aluminum supplies? There's no constraint in terms of volume on aluminum, but the premium has gone up because of some shortages in the market. So, securing the aluminum is okay. We've got our own aluminum powder plant. So in terms of getting the powder, we're self-sufficient on that, as long as we can secure the grade of aluminum. That seems to be a little tight in the market, but we've got long-term agreements so we're well covered. What constraints are you hearing from customers in the aerospace market on increasing engine outputs, a significant bottleneck for the industry? At the moment, we're actually not seeing any real constraints, we've seen the build rates going up. There's the timing in terms of obviously producing the alloy, then producing the parts and then producing the engine. We're seeing there may be little blips going on in terms of the deliveries of aircraft, in terms of the supply chain of how the materials are being pulled through. Then the build rate is good, and the order book for aerospace is very solid. By Jenna Baer Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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New EU steel quotas continue to pose questions

10/07/26
News
10/07/26

New EU steel quotas continue to pose questions

London, 10 July (Argus) — EU steel importers are still seeking clarity on the technicalities of the bloc's new import measures, 10 days after the regulation took effect on 1 July. Alongside significantly smaller free allocations, a key change in the new measure is the addition of a new residual quota. This quota is available on a first-come, first-served basis to countries that hold both a free trade agreement with the EU and a country-specific quota (CSQ) for a given product. But market participants noted that the EU's official legislative document lacks sufficient guidance on how the FTA-CSQ quota will be administered, with different companies having different working interpretations. The prevailing view among traders is that excess volumes in country-specific quotas cannot be automatically transferred to the FTA-CSQ category, and that many importers will have to clear the volumes they applied to customs for and pay the appropriate pro-rated duty. The exception to this would be importers in countries where customs authorities allow companies to withdraw volumes that they have applied to clear — in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Estonia. Importers in these countries will be able to remove some of their volumes from a country-specific quota and apply for clearance into the FTA-CSQ quota, some market sources understand. There is also ambiguity if the pullback mechanism is still available to importers at all, and in which countries. Other market participants have a different understanding, with one source at a major European mill suggesting that excess volumes in country-specific quotas will clear automatically into the residual quotas if there is room. Several market participants have expressed the view that the EU is likely to introduce some adjustments to its new import regulations within six months, as the legislation appears to have been drafted in a rush, being released on 30 June, the day before its implementation. At this point, member states were urged to vote on the regulation within 14 days. Perhaps for this reason, there is an unusually long blocking period for the quotas of 14 days. This means that customs are not allowed to release material into the market, although for many products the unanswered questions regarding FTA-CSQ allocations means that it is difficult to estimate the payable duties with certainty. Some suggested that should companies want to receive their material during the blocking period, they would need to pay a 50pc duty deposit. The European Commission did not respond to an Argus request for comment regarding duty calculations and volume transfers. Traders and buyers reported that enquiries sent to the commission and legal counsel have yielded no definitive clarity. By Brendan Kjellberg-Motton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Brazil’s inflation slows to 4.64pc in June

10/07/26
News
10/07/26

Brazil’s inflation slows to 4.64pc in June

Sao Paulo, 10 July (Argus) — Brazil's inflation slowed to an annual 4.64pc in June, with lower motor fuel prices helping offset higher electricity bills. The consumer price index IPCA decelerated from 4.72pc in May , national statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, after accelerating from 4.39pc in April. Housing costs, appointed as the largest contributors to the monthly gain in the index in June, decelerated to 5.85pc from 6.22pc a month earlier, mostly thanks to electricity bills and tax readjustments for power supply in some southern states. Food and beverage costs, which weigh heavily on the index, contributed the most with the monthly decrease in the IPCA, decelerating to an annual 3.82pc in June from 3.87pc in May. Lower prices for coffee, fruits and meat drove the result, IBGE said. Transport costs slowed to 3.95pc in the month from 4.05pc in May. Lower prices for ethanol, diesel, gasoline and compressed natural gas (CNG) weighed on motor fuel costs, despite an increase in airfares. The annual gain for June was down from 5.35pc in June 2025. Inflation expectations, as calculated by the central bank's Focus survey, remain above target at 5.3pc for 2026 and recently ticked up to 4.18pc for 2027. Brazil's central bank lowered its target rate to 14.25pc in June. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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UAE's EGA restarts alumina production at Al Taweelah

10/07/26
News
10/07/26

UAE's EGA restarts alumina production at Al Taweelah

Singapore, 10 July (Argus) — Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has restarted alumina production at its Al Taweelah refinery in Abu Dhabi and expects output to reach around 50pc of the refinery's capacity within days, the company said today. Production at the Al Taweelah alumina refinery was suspended on 28 March after Iranian attacks on the Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) disrupted the Al Taweelah industrial complex. The refinery expects to ramp up to 50pc of capacity within days and have the technical capability to return to full production by the end of 2026. The restart follows the resumption of hydrate production on 24 June, EGA said. Hydrate is an intermediate product in the alumina refining process. Further details such as the expected date of when the refinery will reach 50pc capacity were not disclosed. The Al Taweelah refinery produced 2.4mn t of alumina in 2025, supplying around 46pc of EGA's alumina requirements. EGA has restarted 89 of the 1,262 reduction cells at its Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi and will gradually ramp up its hot metal production as it progressively restores additional reduction cells, the company said on 2 July. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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