Battery Techno-Economic Analysis & Cost Modelling
Battery supply chains are increasingly exposed to raw material price volatility, regional processing constraints, logistics costs, policy changes, and uncertainty around where critical materials should be refined.
UnityVolt Solutions helps companies understand these risks through transparent techno-economic analysis. Our bottom-up process-based cost modelling approach can estimate production costs, compare processing routes, and test different supply chain scenarios, from lithium carbonate production and DLE brine processing to black mass recycling and precursor and electrode material production.
What is Techno-Economic Analysis?
Techno-economic analysis is used as part of supply-chain risk management to evaluate whether an industrial process, material, or technology can be scaled and produced at a commercially viable cost. In the battery industry, this is especially important because technical performance alone is not enough. A new processing route or novel technology may offer attractive performance benefits, but if it cannot be manufactured or operated cost-effectively at scale, it may not be commercially feasible.
The analysis can vary in complexity depending on the project stage. At an early stage, it may use benchmark data, process assumptions, mass and energy balances, and high-level equipment estimates to test whether a project is worth further development. At a more advanced stage, it can include detailed process flows, equipment sizing, plant layout assumptions, capital cost estimates, operating cost breakdowns, financing assumptions, and scenario modelling.
Our Approach
At UnityVolt Solutions, we provide detailed early-stage techno-economic analysis for battery raw material production and downstream battery manufacturing and recycling.
We develop process-based cost models to estimate equipment requirements, CAPEX, OPEX, production cost, and financial metrics derived from discounted cash-flow analysis, including NPV, IRR, payback period, breakeven price, and margin. These models can be applied to established and emerging processes. Where required, we work with trusted technical partners to support process engineering, equipment costing, market insight, and specialist technology assessment.
Models can be delivered as transparent Excel tools or interactive cloud-based dashboards, depending on the client’s needs. By testing different engineering (such as processing route, yield, plant automation, utilisation) and commercial scenarios (such as input and output materials prices), we help clients identify key cost drivers and risks before committing significant capital or resources.
Upstream: Raw Material Extraction & Refining
We assess existing and emerging technologies for the extraction, concentration, refining, and conversion of critical battery raw materials. This includes early-stage techno-economic modelling for lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, and other key materials used across the battery supply chain.
- Battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide production costs
- Benchmarking DLE process with traditional pond evaporation
- Spodumene conversion, refining, and lithium sulfate intermediate routes
- Nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, MHP, and MSP processing routes
- Natural graphite, synthetic graphite, and anode material processing
- LFP, LMFP, NMC, and other cathode precursor supply chains
Our TEA models can help compare processing routes, evaluate refining location strategies, assess exposure to commodity price volatility, and understand whether a raw material project is commercially viable before committing significant capital.
Midstream: Active Materials, Cell & Pack Manufacturing
We model the CAPEX and manufacturing cost of pCAM/CAM plants and battery Gigafactories using a process-based "should-cost" analysis methodology. This includes assessing the size, power requirements, and cost of each piece of equipment in the plant. The aim is to make battery cost structure more transparent, benchmark suppliers, compare chemistries, and evaluate regional manufacturing strategies.
- Compare different processing routes for LFP, LMFP, NMC, NCA, and other pCAM/CAM
- Natural and synthetic graphite, silicon-rich anodes, and other blends
- Electrolyte, separator, binder, conductive additive, and current collector cost contributions
- Cell, module and pack manufacturing cost across different chemistries and formats
- Yield loss, scrap rate, formation time, labour, energy, utilisation, and overhead assumptions
- Regional manufacturing cost comparisons and localisation strategy support
This supports supplier benchmarking, chemistry selection, localisation decisions, pack-level cost estimation, and identification of the largest cost drivers in the manufacturing process.
Downstream: Battery Recycling & Black Mass Recovery
We assess recycling economics from battery collection and pre-processing through to black mass production, refining, and valuable metal recovery. This helps clients understand the commercial viability of recycling routes under different feedstock, process, and commodity price scenarios.
- Battery pack disassembly, pre-processing, logistics, and feedstock handling costs
- Shredding, mechanical separation, and black mass production
- Black mass composition analysis across NMC, LFP, LMFP, sodium-ion, and mixed chemistry feedstocks
- Hydrometallurgical recovery of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, aluminium, and graphite
- Reagent demand, energy use, recovery rates, impurity management, waste treatment, and yield loss
- Sensitivity to black mass price, metal prices, recovery efficiency, plant utilisation, and regional operating costs
This helps clients identify when recycling is economically attractive, which metals drive project value, and how profitability changes under different feedstock, recovery, and market assumptions.
Novel & Client-Specific Battery Technologies
We build client-specific techno-economic models for novel battery materials, manufacturing methods, and industrial processes. This helps technology developers quantify scale-up costs, benchmark their process against conventional production routes, and strengthen the commercial case for investors, partners, and grant applications.
- Novel industrial process modelling for lithium metal production, DLE, refining, recycling, and advanced material synthesis
- Benchmarking against conventional process streams to compare CAPEX, OPEX, yield, energy use, production cost, and scalability
- Scale-up assessment for solid-state electrolytes, solid-state separators, lithium-metal cells, anode-free cells, and next-generation cell architectures
- Cost modelling for silicon-rich anodes, dry electrode manufacturing, sodium-ion cells, lithium-sulfur systems, and manganese-rich cathodes
- Scenario analysis for yield loss, process efficiency, plant utilisation, labour cost, energy cost, inflation, financing, and regional operating assumptions
- Investor-ready outputs including production cost estimates, breakeven analysis, NPV, IRR, sensitivity analysis, and key commercial risk drivers
This is designed for companies developing new technologies that may offer strong performance advantages, but still need to demonstrate that the process can be scaled, manufactured, and operated at a commercially competitive cost.
Case Studies
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