Study on future material requirements of the national grid infrastructure to reach net zero

The UK’s climate change ambitions are transforming the energy sector. The clean energy transition objective cannot be met without access to energy transition minerals, of which several are identified as ‘critical’. The UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy identifies the need to establish resilient supply chains and to understand dependencies and future demand trends that may adversely influence which critical minerals are needed to achieve UK net zero targets. This study assesses the security of supply of aluminium (Al) and copper (Cu) essential for upgrading the electricity grid in Great Britain (GB) to adapt to the decentralisation of power generation driven by renewable energy, and mass electrification associated with consumer technologies, energy storage and distribution. Al and Cu requirements for upgrading the grid based on national forecasts of infrastructure projects are considered. The scope of this study included those components in the transmission and distribution networks with high Cu or Al content, namely: • overhead lines • underground and subsea cables • interconnectors • converters • transformers • solar connections • lithium-ion batteries for grid-scale storage • electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure Assumptions made as part of the study approach were validated by a range of Government and private sector stakeholders throughout the project. The findings of the study highlight key challenges and bottlenecks within the upstream Cu and Al global supply chains and in the component and product supply chains.