The copper mined and produced by KGHM plays a key role in technical solutions used in renewable energy – solar, wind, water and tidal energy, as well as geothermal and biomass energy. A single 3 MW wind turbine contains as much as 4.7 tonnes of copper and the construction of a 1 MW solar power plant requires from 3.1 to 4.5 tonnes of copper.
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In 2011, under work to determine demand for non-ferrous metals, the Minerals Education Coalition calculated¹ that during their lifetime, each person consumes more than 460 tonnes of copper.
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The European non-ferrous metals industry, which addresses this demand, is a complex ecosystem of mining, smelting, processing, refining and recycling operations spread across the continent. It consists of more than 900 plants producing and processing base, precious and specialty metals, which employ half a million people. The industry’s annual turnover is estimated at EUR 120 billion.
120
EUR billion
estimated industry’s annual turnover
It is the output of the European non-ferrous metals industry that makes energy transition and the vision of a climate-neutral Europe possible. In 2020, this raw material was classified as a rare resource in the European Union. The methodology developed by the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs²) specifies the economic weight of copper in the energy transition process was determined as very high.
1 https://mineralseducationcoalition.org/
2 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/2d43b7e2-66ac-11e7-b2f2-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-32064602
After silver, which is expensive and found in much smaller quantities, copper has the highest electrical conductivity of any metal. As a result, devices containing copper (such as motors) are much more efficient than equivalents made from other metals, with energy consumption typically 20-30% lower if copper is used.
Copper has an even greater advantage in the production of cables. It has approximately 60% more current-carrying capacity than aluminium cables of the same size. It also reduces energy losses in the transmission itself (since movement of electrons in copper is much easier – even more so with the purity produced by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.) Also, the thermal conductivity of copper is more than half times higher than that of aluminium. Another important characteristic of copper is its low reactivity with water and positive aseptic effects in the presence of Cu+ (min. 65%). As a result, copper cables are more reliable and easier to use in the construction industry, electrical engineering, power generation and heavy marine industries; they are also easy to transport, handle, assemble and store outdoors (Cu does not corrode through passivation). This is complemented by the high specific weight of copper, which makes it much easier to lay underwater connections for offshore wind energy.
Copper is also essential for the development of electromobility.
It is a key component in batteries, steering systems and in the charging infrastructure. Electric cars contain on average nearly four times more copper than their internal combustion engine counterparts (83 kg compared to 23 kg).
Overall, the technologies facilitating a 75% reduction of EU greenhouse gas emissions will require 22 million tonnes of copper by 2050³. This amount is roughly the same as the current level of global metallurgical production of copper (which is slightly over 21 million tonnes) and more than ten times greater than the current production capacity of the European Union. An analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates moreover that advancement of the Paris Accords on the reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030 will alone lead in the next several years to increased demand for copper by more than 40%.
Clearly, the scale of demand is enormous and this situation will not be changed by the expected increase in the production capacity of mines (estimated on average at 4.9% annually) or by the continuing increase in the share of scrap metal in copper production (which becomes increasingly difficult due to the shrinking secondary resources and increasing longevity of products).
In this situation, Europe should focus on supporting its own capacities and creating mechanisms supporting the development of copper production on the Old Continent. This will make it possible not only to reduce the continent’s record dependence on imports from other regions of the world, but will also contribute to the reduction of emissions, since the carbon footprint of domestic production is much lower than that of Asian competitors.
Compared to the 1990 levels, the European copper industry has reduced unit energy consumption by 60%, while emissions from copper production in Europe currently represent just 0.4% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions.
Our efforts to counteract climate change, as well as the significance of copper in the energy transition, are attested to by being awarded a place in the Carbon Clean 200TM ranking. KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. was the only company from Poland to be so honoured amongst 6 thousand entities from around the world.
3 Estimate based on, among others, the EU’s “High-RES” scenario to 2050 and the EU Energy Roadmap 2050, https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2012_energy_roadmap_2050_en_0.pdf