The Emerging Electrical Markets for Copper


Project Background Objectives



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Project Background




    1. Objectives

The primary objective of this research project is to investigate the markets for copper that are at an early stage of development, identifying their size and potential growth. The main focus is Europe, although the world potential of these markets is also identified.


We are looking essentially at very small markets that are likely to grow into “significant” ones by 2020. By “significant” we take the arbitrary figure of 5 ktpy consumption of copper.
It was clear from the outset, that it would not be possible to focus exclusively on the specific markets under review without reference to their context, as each identified market forms part of a larger market area. It is only through an understanding the structure of the underlying market areas and trends within them, that the dynamics of the individual markets under review can be assessed. The research process, therefore, combines a top down with a bottom up approach.
With this in mind, the assessment of each market area and the identification of individual market opportunities are within the following common sequence in this Report:


  1. Sector Background.

  2. Alternative Technical Solutions.

  3. Market Forecasts by Sector.

  4. The Impact on Copper.

    1. Market Classification

The broad market categories and the submarkets initially identified were the following:




  1. Transport (electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, trains and mass transit systems).

  1. Marine (subsea, desalination etc).

  1. Energy storage, distributed generation and renewable energy (residential heat pumps, batteries, mass storage by utilities, other storage, fuel cells, solar energy, wind power, other distributed generation, other renewable energy).

  1. Green buildings, residential and commercial (low energy homes, energy management, alternative fuel sources distributed generation and storage, metering, integrated communications, connected / smart appliances, digital homes).

This classification formed the basis of our initial proposal.
Through the course of this research, this basic division was changed a little. We found that marine market opportunities usually fall into other market groupings (mainly energy infrastructure and transport), so this did not justify a separate section heading.
We also found the coverage of the fourth area of investigation (“Green buildings etc.”) to be unwieldy. Because of this, we realigned this section to include three elements, “Premise”, “Equipment” and “Cross Product Technologies” and “Other Specific Market areas”.

The Section headings in this Report are therefore as follows:




  1. Transport.

  2. Electricity Infrastructure.

  3. Premise, Equipment and Other Markets.

The third Section listed above is something of a “catch all” category. The main part of it, however, relates to the fabric of buildings and equipment, which mainly functions within buildings. Apart from this, there is coverage of some technologies that apply to equipment both within and outside the premises (motors and drive systems, power electronics, energy storage etc.) and also some discrete markets that do not fit easily into any other category, such as desalination.

    1. Looking at the Big Picture

While changes in technology and taste are important in creating new markets, the big changes in society overall are more so. At base, the big changes in the material world fall out of the needs and aspirations of society as a whole. In a static world, where needs and aspirations stay constant, this wouldn’t tell us very much, as the products that society requires wouldn’t change much in rationale, but only in form.


Now, however, we are in a changing world, and this has important implications for copper (as indicated in Figure 1 to Figure 4). The underlying human need for survival (both as a whole and individually), and for security, is being interpreted in new ways. The big change is in the energy economy. Society as a whole has come to realise that it cannot continue pumping out greenhouse gases and expect life to continue as normal. We have to change the way we think about using energy, which in turn influences the way we run our lives.
Not only is the energy issue critical from an environment point of view, it is also a crucial security issue. Countries of the West are hugely concerned over the political and economic power vested in the countries that have large hydrocarbon resources, especially as they become depleted elsewhere. The security concern is putting a premium on locally produced energy, even where the cost may be greater than imported energy.
Growing wealth, together with the advent of global terrorism, has led to a rather different interpretation of the needs for security and survival than formerly. Surveillance and security systems are rapidly increasing in their use is one manifestation. Another is health concern, which is greatly affecting what we expect of products, systems and the services we use, especially the medical services.
In Figure 1, we indicate that the aspirations of society overall and of individuals within it feed into our model as well as society needs. While sometimes equally important, the recent changes in this driver have been less dramatic. We are still driven by the desire for personal wealth, comfort and stimulation. The implications in today’s world are somewhat different from the past, however, as technology alters how we can address our aspirations, and growing wealth our ability to do so.
Overlaid on the issues covered so far, we need to consider demographics and the distribution of wealth. The global population is growing, most of it in poorer countries. Population growth is putting severe strains on water supply in many parts of the world, and this is a much more immediate survival issue than global warning for much of the world’s population. On the other hand, a faster rate of

Figure 1: Society Goals and How They Affect Emerging Markets for Copper (1)

Society Goals – Energy and Survival



Figure 2: Society Goals and How They Affect Emerging Markets for Copper (2)

Energy and Survival – Sector Implications of Energy Goals



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