Sustainable electrification is key to accelerating the energy transition in Africa

Africa is caught in a paradox: it emits only a tiny proportion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but suffers disproportionately from the consequences. And while demand for electricity is currently low, it is set to grow exponentially across the continent.

At the same time, global GHG emissions totaled 57.4 gigatons (CO2 equivalent) in 2022. According to the United Nations Environment Program, this is an increase of 62% over1990.

The need to develop sustainable electrification in Africa is therefore clear. Some countries, such as Morocco, Niger and Benin, have already committed to ambitious targets, particularly in renewable energies, but the process will require a collective effort on a scale never seen to date.

The challenges of sustainable electrification in Africa

An inevitable increase in demand

Electricity demand in Africa could reach nearly 2,400 TWh by 2040

The African continent is experiencing strong demographic growth. This trend is set to continue, alongside improvements in average living standards and faster development of industry, trade and agriculture. All these factors will drive higher demand for electricity over the next few years.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity consumption in Africa currently totals  around 730 TWh, barely more than a country such as Germany. This underlines the paradox of the African continent. Despite making only a tiny contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, it is more vulnerable than any other region to the effects of global warming (droughts, floods, impact on water and agriculture, etc.). More than any other region, Africa needs to satisfy the huge demand for electricity in order to unlock its economic potential and improve living conditions in some regions. This will involve deploying agricultural greenhouses and desalination plants such as the facility in Casablanca, Morocco.

Africa is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which currently make up 80% of its electricity mix. This type of fuel is cheaper and historically more accessible than clean energies. To achieve sustainable electrification, it will be necessary to gradually phase out the old polluting power plants with renewable alternatives.

Demand for electricity was expected to bounce back by 3% in 2023 (after a slight decrease), rising by 4.5% in 2024 and 2025. However, a more substantial increase in demand is expected over the long term. One of the IEA scenarios forecasts a rise to 2,400 TWh across the continent by 2040!

Global demand for electricity is set to increase by more than 40% over the next 20 years

Factors such as population growth, urbanization, industrial expansion and global warming are automatically translating into higher electricity demand. According to IEA figures, global consumption already totaled 24,398 TWh in 2022, a threefold increase on 8,132 TWh in 1981. And this figure is unlikely to fall any time soon! The World Energy Council expects consumption to exceed 40,000 TWh per year in 2040, a leap of over 40%.

The facts set out by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) are nevertheless clear: to limit global warming to 1.5°C, we have no choice but to cut annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by around 37 gigatons compared to 2022 ! In addition, the energy sector must achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The solution lies in making the transition from fossil fuels to decarbonized electricity. However, we will need to deploy 1,000 GW of renewable energies (solar, wind or hydropower) every year to meet this target. Yet new facilities supplied only an additional 300 GW in 2022, which is not sufficient to keep pace with growing demand.

Why do we need better access to energy?

Africa is the least electrified continent. To fully understand the situation, we need to remember that some 43% of the African population still has no access to electricity in the home. Although figures vary from country to country, and from region to region within the same country, this figure still represents over 600 million people across the continent. This situation naturally has an impact on the population (in terms of health, education and economic development, for example). According to the World Bank, new connections are no longer keeping pace with population growth, owing primarily to an increase in prices of raw materials.

Other obstacles include outdated energy production facilities and a lack of transmission and distribution infrastructure. Economic development and digital inclusion are severely impacted by the frequent failures of the existing system and the instability of the network. According to IRENA, 41 % of companies are experiencing supply problems, causing an estimated 2% fall in Africa’s GDP.

How can we make electricity accessible and affordable?

In order to supply power at the right price while supporting economic development, it will be necessary to focus on innovation and the training of qualified personnel. We need to de-risk investment, reinforce and modernize equipment and network infrastructure, facilitate installation and maintenance, develop eco-design and recycling, introduce new payment models, and so on.

As part of this, it is essential to secure supplies in sectors such as transport, industry and construction. How? By installing high-power cables. Superconducting cables, for example, can transport large quantities of energy whenever and wherever required, usually in large cities and conurbations.

Achieving sustainable electrification will involve not only developing renewable sources and resilient networks, but also optimizing usage through energy-efficient buildings and equipment. This will mean setting energy performance targets and implementing measures to achieve them (insulating walls and roofs, integrating smart management systems,  monitoring energy usage, etc.). For Africa, these improvements are essential. The energy savings obtained will reduce the price per kWh while limiting the growing demand for electricity (by 230 TWh in 2030 according to the IEA, or 30% of current consumption levels).

Collaborative projects to develop electrification

To meet these challenges, Africa has a huge asset: a renewable energy potential that is far greater than anywhere else in the world. According to a report by Deloitte, this potential amounted to 10 TW of solar capacity, 110 GW of wind and 35 GW of hydro in 2023. However, it is still largely under-exploited. Only 2.7 GW of renewables were added to the total in Africa in 2023, for a global total of 473 GW. By way of comparison, China has deployed no less than 297.6 GW, or almost 63% of the total. In late 2023, Africa’s installed capacity stood at 13.47 GW for solar power, 8.6 GW for wind and 37.82 GW for renewable hydro, making up only a tiny proportion of the global base, estimated at 1,419 GW for solar power, for example.

IEA forecasts for the African energy market expect the situation to change rapidly, with most new energy sources being renewable by 2025. Sustainable electricity generation is expected to follow a similar trend, increasing by more than 60 TWh. It would then account for almost 30% of total electricity generation, compared with 21% in 2021.

Ambitious targets for sustainable electrification

Several countries are already engaged in this dynamic and are implementing proactive policies, leading the way for the rest of the continent. With nearly 4.6 GW of installed renewable capacity, Morocco has announced the deployment of a further 7.5 GW as part of its 2023-2027 electricity equipment plan. The proportion of renewables in the electricity mix is set to rise to 52% by 2030.

Another example is Niger, which has set an ambitious electrification target for 2018 with the signing of the Document de politique nationale d’électricité (document on national electricity policy) and the Stratégie nationale de l’accès à l’électricité (national strategy for electricity access). Eighty percent of the population should have access to electricity by 2035!

Achieving these objectives will require a particularly high levels of investment. A number of solutions exist to facilitate this process:

• Reinforcing or updating rules and legislation (introduction of government subsidies for local players, for example).
• Facilitating outside support, primarily through the implementation of results-based programs. For example, the World Bank provides Program-for-results financing, in which the disbursement of funds is linked directly to the achievement and verification of specific program results, set out before the contract is signed.
• Implementing power systems combining several technologies (floating photovoltaics, pumped storage, etc.) with off-grid systems backed by renewable mini-grids.
• Creating new business models and expanding development partnerships.

Among the existing initiatives, we should mention Nexans Morocco, which is supplying turnkey cable systems for photovoltaic panels. This reduces the total cost of ownership of solar power plants and cuts the time required for installation, thereby limiting the investment required.

Partnerships: the cornerstone of the energy transition in Africa

To meet both financing and innovation needs, it will also be necessary to set up strategic collaborations between government bodies, businesses and associations.

Let’s take the example of an ambitious project such as Mission 300. Supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, its purpose is to provide access to electricity for 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. For the moment, however, total contributions stand at 30 billion dollars, far short of the 90 billion required.

In Africa, where Nexans has been present since 1947, this strategy is supported by Nexans Morocco. The company has already forged several partnerships and launched collaborative projects, and is playing a key role in the electrification of Africa.

In particular, Nexans Morocco has set up metal crushing and separation facilities with local companies. Through this initiative, it is able to recycle 83% of production waste. It has also launched several initiatives including the Nexans Climate Challenge. This event recognizes and rewards the projects that are most promising from a socio-environmental standpoint, allowing the ecosystem to work with start-ups. The winners of the 2023 edition included MAG Power, a project for mobile power stations using lithium batteries charged by renewable energies and fully recyclable.

The Nexans Foundation is also involved in a number of collaborative projects in Africa, such as training young people in electrical trades through the organizations IECD and ACCESMAD, installing solar panels in health centers in Côte d’Ivoire, and connecting hospitals to the grid in the DRC.

Sustainable electrification is undeniably a key pillar of the energy transition in Africa. It simultaneously addresses the three crucial challenges of energy access, energy efficiency and cost control. Faced with a steadily growing demand for electricity, Africa needs to address the challenge of supplying clean, affordable energy that is accessible to everybody.

Collaborative projects are playing a decisive role, supported by innovative financing and strategic partnerships. Public, private and international players can join forces to make sustainable electrification a reality in Africa, enabling the continent to meet its energy needs, and also to position itself on the front line of the fight against climate change, the impact of which is felt more acutely here than anywhere else in the world.

In the not-too-distant future, you won’t just be driving a vehicle running on electricity when you get behind the wheel, you will be contributing to national energy production!

Or at least that’s the promise of the carmakers, who are already marketing vehicles with bidirectional charging. When you plug in your car for charging, it also becomes a power source for the grid or your home, potentially halving your electricity bill. This technology is already deployed by Tesla in the USA and could be implemented more widely soon, since Renault is working on around fifteen projects of this type in partnership with grid operator Enedis.

​​​​​This is just one of the ways in which energy production is becoming more varied and decentralized, with the transformation of power grids. We could say that this is the end of the traditional model of energy production, based on just one or two producers supplying energy from two or three main sources.

So why do we need to reinvent power grids?

If you hear the term Electricity 4.0, it’s not just another marketing ploy, but a way to underline a break with the past. It relates to the need for more abundant, more efficient and – above all – sustainable energy sources to support ​​​​the fourth industrial revolution, a transformation driven by electric mobility, data centers (cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence) and, first and foremost, the electrification of everything and the digitalization of virtually all areas of activity.

Electricity has all the qualities necessary to address these new challenges. For a clearer understanding, remember that it took 150 years for electricity to meet just one-quarter of our energy requirements, and that we need to reach 60% in just 25 years if we are to meet carbon neutrality targets.

This will involve a 40% increase in electricity demand by 2040, and a six-fold increase in the share of wind and solar power in the energy mix.

This change of scale will require a significant increase in the annual pace of investment in the grid (cables, pylons, transformers, etc.), with figures doubling or tripling compared with the past fifteen years. France, for example, has one of the oldest grids in Europe, with power lines that are 50 years old on average.

Further, renewable electricity is set to dominate the EU electricity sector by 2030. The change is gathering pace, with renewable energies expected to generate 66% of EU electricity by 2030, up from 44% in 2023.

This progress can be achieved only by implementing technological solutions able to fine-tune the balance between production and consumption, and to improve efficiency, security and sustainability.

A profusion of producers

The electricity revolution is all about the multiplication and decentralization of energy production methods.

We have an increasingly complex energy mix, with some countries using energies that are on the way out, like coal and gas, others opting for nuclear power, and – more generally – a growing proportion of hydro, solar and wind power.

At the same time, everybody is free to set up their own installation. This option is now very much a part of everyday life: an increasing number of individuals, SMEs, shopping malls and business corporations are investing in energy production. It is no longer an option reserved solely for major investors: a modest manufacturing firm in southern France can easily meet a third of its electricity needs by installing solar panels.

Between 2022 and 2023 in France, the number of new installations tripled for private customers and doubled for business users. And this is just the beginning, according to Laetitia Brottier, vice-president of Enerplan, the union of solar energy professionals.

Although the complexity of integrating new producers can lead to bottlenecks in grid access, this movement nevertheless plays an essential role in efforts to decarbonize our economies, and it is made possible by the transition towards smart grids.

These new-generation grids enable more agile energy management and make it easier to integrate new decentralized energy production sources, such as wind and solar power. According to a European Union study, optimizing the use of renewable energies through smart grids could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 10 and 15%.

Driven by demand

As a result, a completely new approach is taking shape, since energy production can be initiated and adjusted to reflect demand in the field, and in real time.

A multitude of sensors deployed across the chain, from the end user to the power distribution network, will enable live monitoring of power flows and consumption. This will allow for better management of the load, i.e. the maximum power supported by the system, so that switching on different household appliances at the same time will no longer cause a power cut.

In the same way as electrification, energy efficiency has a key role to play in the energy transition, allowing us to turn the heating on before we get home, control the shutters according to light and weather conditions, and so on. Connected objects will turn our homes into ‘energy ecosystems’, adapting appliances to weather conditions, to our activities, and to the price fluctuations announced by electricity suppliers based on their supply costs. This will make it possible to limit soaring household energy bills, while maintaining comfort.

This transformation will be seen not only in households and residential infrastructures but also on plants and industrial sites. It is already increasingly common for production workers and technicians to operate automated, remotely controlled systems (motors, furnaces, assembly lines, etc.), providing the grid with information on current and future energy consumption. Here again, this allows them to take advantage of the lowest possible market prices.

For this reason, manufacturers are innovating continuously to develop systems able to monitor all the components in the electrotechnical chain, such as electrical transformers, cables and connection accessories such as junctions. The purpose of digitalizing power networks is to monitor the activity and load of all these components, to prevent malfunctions and optimize use. Allowing for the measurement of partial discharges also helps to extend the service life of installations. In consequence, the monitoring of electrical infrastructures pursues two main aims: to measure and optimize power consumption, and to increase network reliability and service life.

Will we finally be able to store electricity and avoid wastage?

It is important to remember that production will inevitably exceed demand from time to time. Electricity consumption remains structurally higher in the daytime, on weekdays and in winter. However, solar production is higher in summer, while high pressure systems bring cold snaps and a lack of wind for wind turbines.

This being so, a large-scale transition to sustainable energies is intrinsically linked to storage technologies. These technologies need to demonstrate their efficiency in coping with variations in the production of renewables, when the sun disappears, or the wind is not strong enough. We are referring here not only to batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles, but also to pumped storage power plants. Note that the three main types of renewable energy – water, solar and wind – are highly complementary.

Sébastien Arbola, Executive Vice-President in charge of Flexible Generation & Retail activities at Engie, said: “For every megawatt of renewable energy installed, we will need between 10 and 15% of equivalent capacity in the form of storage.”

This fast-growing market requires new solutions, such as those developed by Nexans, which is contributing to the design of transmission and distribution networks able to collect renewables at source, and to the integration of storage sites on a larger scale, more widely distributed across a given area.

As you can see, electricity 4.0 is far more than just a technological adjustment. With the planet on high alert, managing electricity is fundamental in the transition to cleaner energies. Renewable power plants are one way to reduce our carbon footprint, along with more efficient distribution networks, new energy storage solutions, and interconnections with networks in neighboring countries.

This will also help us to take back control of our energy supply sources. With geopolitical tensions on the rise, this is vital for limiting energy dependency, managing price fluctuations and ensuring grid security.

As a key driver to move away from fossil fuels, which are a massive source of CO2 emissions, renewables are an essential part of the future of energy. In this context of race against time to combat climate change, a growing emphasis is put on decarbonization of electricity.

The transition to renewable energy on a large scale is reliant on energy storage technologies. Energy storage is an essential part of the transition to clean energy and the foundation upon which the decarbonization of today’s grids must be built. Due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy — mainly wind and solar — grid operators must rely on energy storage systems to balance supply and demand. This interdependence means that storage is integral to grid resilience and reliability.

It is projected that by 2030, global energy storage installations will reach a cumulative 411 gigawatts (GW), according to the latest forecast from research company BloombergNEF — an increase of 15 times the storage online in 2021.

Other significant factors driving energy storage growth are government policies aimed at curbing increasing energy prices, meeting peak demand, and energy independence. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill was signed into law, representing the U.S.’s largest investment to fight climate change.

Energy storage challenges: the need for widespread grid-scale technologies

A major challenge facing the industry today is the need for widespread grid-scale storage technologies. Today, the most viable solution is pumped-storage hydropower, which generates electricity by pumping water into a reservoir and then releasing it to generate electricity at a different time. Unfortunately, this technology can only be applied in specific locations. As such, grid operators must resort to fossil fuel energy sources to meet peak demand periods.

However, in recent years, advancements in storage technologies are now providing new opportunities for the potential to meet energy fluctuations in energy demand without resorting to fossil fuels. Thus giving grid operators the ability to store excess renewable energy and, to some extent, help balance in real-time energy demand to meet peak periods.

Five renewable energy storage technologies ensuring a reliable power supply

Proper energy storage ensures a reliable power supply as the electricity grid becomes more dependent on variable renewable energy (VRE) sources. What often differentiates technologies are their storage capabilities, reactivity, scalability, and application requirements.

Thermal energy storage: a viable alternative for commercial buildings

The emergence of newer thermal energy storage (TES) technologies is making it a viable alternative in commercial buildings. TES systems can store heat or cold to be used later and are divided into three types: sensible heat, latent heat, and thermochemical. When installed in a building, a TSE solution allows the building itself to act as a thermal battery — storing renewable energy in tanks or vessels to be used when needed.

Superconducting magnetic energy storage: for an instant and efficient release of energy

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) stores energy in a magnetic field. Because it can release stored energy instantaneously, it is considered ideal for grid applications requiring fast reaction time. Due to its negligible energy losses, there is increasing interest in finding a way to use it in large-scale energy storage applications. A few prototypes are currently in service, mostly under investigation, and they are beginning to be identified as a possible cost-effective solution.

What is the future of energy storage?

New materials and the development and supply of storage batteries for surplus renewable energy are quickly evolving to meet maturing requirements. Newer power electronics can convert stored energy into electricity to provide low to zero-impact solutions.

Nexans contributes in several ways to the energy transition, of which electricity storage is a key element, starting with the supply of transmission and distribution grids for the collection of renewable energy—wind and solar—at the source. It is crucial to collect electricity where it is generated (e.g. offshore wind farms) at an acceptable cost. The integration of storage sites is based on the same connection capacity, whether on a high-power scale or more widely distributed over a region.

Integrating variable renewable energies into smart grids will require an ever-increasing ability to monitor real-time usage requirements alongside automated systems in order to balance demand and supply loads. Faced with the need for greater flexibility, Nexans has developed new services accordingly.

For electric mobility applications, which are highly dependent on the technical and economic performance of electricity storage, Nexans supplies proper cable connections and protections, as for charging stations of electric vehicles, through specific safety functionalities to ensure safe energy storage.

Nexans has also acquired worldwide expertise and leadership in electrical and fire safety, that can be extended to the new applications of storage, such as vehicle batteries as they are becoming increasingly crucial.

The Group has been innovating for decades with industrial cryogenic and superconducting systems, such as with the development of a cryogenic transfer system of liquefied natural gas and hydrogen. As liquid hydrogen is very likely to play a key role in storage, Nexans will continue to innovate with breakthrough technologies to design tomorrow’s electricity grid.

Progress in energy storage technologies is vital to the transition to clean energy and the decarbonization of electricity. In the future, large-scale energy storage technologies will evolve and thus provide smart grids with the ability to reach their full potential. Diversifying and strengthening the supply chain of the new equipment for a massive deployment is a major challenge, especially for critical raw materials in a tense geopolitical context. Innovating by recycling materials used in end-of-life products is already a key driver, for which Nexans has prepared and positioned itself particularly well

Today, governments from around the globe with bold commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are pressuring the construction and building sector to reduce its carbon emissions and consumption of raw materials.

And for good reason. Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for almost 40% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and consume 30% of final energy globally. Decarbonizing the building and construction sector is critical to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Doing so will need fundamental changes in how buildings are designed, built, and operated worldwide. This shift will require the sector to favor more environmentally friendly building materials and practices, institute better material efficiency strategies, and reduce raw material usage.

Innovative construction materials

The move to innovative low-carbon building materials is essential to reduce the building and construction sector’s environmental impact. Concrete is not only the most commonly used building material but is responsible for 8% of global GHG emissions.

A viable alternative to traditional concrete is low-carbon brick made from recycled materials or traditional clay bricks fired in a low-carbon process using biogas from waste, biomass methanation, or solar and wind power.

Construction materials company Saint-Gobain, for example, is leading the way in the production of sustainable, low-carbon products. Earlier this year, the global company announced the production of zero-carbon plasterboard at its modernized plant in Fredrikstad, Norway. Decarbonizing the manufacturing process was possible by switching from natural gas to hydroelectric power, thus avoiding 23,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. In addition, the company is the first in the industry to produce zero-carbon flat glass, made possible by using 100% recycled glass (cullet) and 100% green energy produced from biogas and decarbonized electricity.

Eco-friendly materials such as hemp and flax are viable alternatives for reducing the sector’s environmental impact. Cavac Biomatériaux, specializing in the industrial application of plant fibers, manufactures insulation from hemp and flax.

Better material efficiency strategies

The 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction foresees global consumption of raw materials to double by 2060. By implementing better material efficiency strategies, there is a massive potential for the building sector to reduce its GHG emissions, according to the report’s panel.

Furthermore, material efficiency strategies, including recycled materials, in G7 countries could reduce emissions in the material cycle of residential buildings by more than 80% in 2050. Globally, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that the circular economy would reduce CO2 emissions from building materials by 38% in 2050.

A key initiative within the European Union’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) is the Digital Product Passport (DPP). This initiative aims to make sustainable products the norm in the EU by facilitating transparency throughout the value chain and boosting circular business models. Instituting a circular business model in the building and construction sector is key to reaching important sustainability targets.

Reducing raw materials usage

Construction materials and products are estimated to consume 50% of all raw materials extracted from the Earth’s crust, and demolition activities represent 50% of all waste generated. To reduce its cables’ environmental impact, Nexans increasingly uses low-impact materials throughout the production value chain.

It is projected that the availability of important raw materials will continue to decrease in the years to come. An example is copper, an essential component of electrical cables and wiring due to its high conductivity and strength. Because copper mining can no longer meet global demand, 40% of copper production comes from recycled copper.

For over 35 years, Nexans has been recycling copper and aluminum scrap as part of its Sustainable Development policy to reduce raw material usage and promote a circular business model. In 2008, Nexans and SUEZ launched RECYCÂBLES, France’s leading recycler of cables and non-ferrous metals. The joint venture processes 36,000 tonnes annually of cables, generating 18,000 tonnes of metal granules and 13,000 tonnes of plastic. The combination of leading-edge technologies enables the generation of 99.9% pure copper granules.

Today, Nexans uses up to 15% of recycled copper in new cable manufactured and is on target to use recycled aluminum by 2024. Employing recycled copper, aluminum, and plastics provides Nexans’ customers a sustainable product without compromising quality.

Environmentally friendly building materials

With the global floor area expected to double by 2060, implementing energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building materials and practices is vital.

Nexans is working to improve the impact of its products by sourcing components that meet reduced energy usage guidelines established by the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) directives. In addition, Nexans’ R&D product development aims to protect the environment and human health by managing the chemical substances used in its manufacturing processes and ensuring that all new projects take into account the end product’s environmental footprint. For example, starting in 2025, a large part of cables manufactured at the Nexans facility in Autun, France, will be halogen-free to reduce their toxic gas emissions in the event of a fire.

Energy-efficient, zero-carbon buildings will require looking at how building materials are designed, made, and used. This will mean examining the value chain and changing how we make, use, and reuse all materials—from the actual product to the packaging and transportation—to reduce the industry’s overall environmental impact.

With the global demand for electricity expected to increase 20% by 2030 and the increasing pressure to transition to renewables, the War of the Currents is once again in the spotlight.

Back in the 1880’s, when Westinghouse and Edison were battling for their respective approach to electricity distribution, the infrastructure to transmit direct current (DC) power was at the time inefficient and expensive. And as such, Nikola Tesla’s approach using alternating current (AC) ultimately won. And since that time, our current electrical infrastructure is dominated by AC technology. But times have changed since then.

Today, over 70% of devices in a building need DC to operate. A conversion from AC to DC results in energy wastage of upwards to 20%, according to EMerge Alliance. Reducing the need to convert has profound implications regarding energy savings and environmental impact. And this is why eliminating or reducing AC to DC conversion in buildings is critical.

The International Energy Agency reports that in 2021 the operation of buildings accounted for 30% of global final energy consumption and 27% of total energy sector emissions. As a result, governments are placing increasing pressure on the building sector to move towards ambitious energy performance directives to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Directives such as “nearly zero-energy buildings” in the U.S. and in Europe aim for buildings to require a low amount of energy provided by renewables produced on-site or nearby.

Directives like these, along with the growing usage of self-consumption, onsite battery storage and DC-powered devices from LED lighting and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to electric vehicles (EV) and electronic devices, are driving the building industry to switch to DC power distribution.

The move towards to reliable DC cable systems for DC microgrid

In terms of electric power distribution, there is a progressive shift towards DC due to the growing interest in low voltage (LV) and medium voltage (MV) microgrids reflecting the fundamental changes in how electricity is generated, stored, and consumed. We are convinced that AC and DC networks will coexist with a significant share.

However, expert knowledge of the behavior of the insulation system is vital to ensuring the reliability of LV cables and accessories in buildings.

The behavior of LVAC cable systems is largely known but not for LVDC.

One of the focuses of Nexans’ R&D center AmpaCity is to optimize our cable design: we perform this optimization, which is achieved by understanding the electrical behavior of insulation systems under DC stress conditions and the impact of DC current on cable breakdown, ageing and corrosion. We’re also committed to investigate on more effective polymers for DC cable insulation with lower environmental impact than AC classical solution.

DC building transformation is a Fact

As mentioned earlier, power generation is moving closer to demand. Rooftop solar photovoltaics are becoming more commonplace. According to the EU Solar Energy Strategy, EU will make compulsory the installation of rooftop solar in new public and commercial and residential buildings. Furthermore, PV panels produce natively DC. In addition to the widespread implementation of on-site battery storage for uninterrupted power supplies (UPSs) used by businesses and data centers to maintain supply security, along with the growing deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESSs) for grid balancing.

Another major change in recent years is the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and the need for DC charging stations in commercial, residential, and office buildings. With global policies encouraging and mandating the move to EVs, the market for chargers is growing rapidly, at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29% from 2023 to 2050.

Local DC-power distribution

Distributing DC power locally throughout a building provides important benefits in safety, costs, and device reliability.

From a safety point of view, AC power is inherently more dangerous. In fact, the risk of electrocution of the human body by DC is considered to be lower than with AC, as the total impedance of the human body decreases as the frequency increases. And for high growth categories such as EV chargers, the move to DC versus AC chargers means better overall safety.

The data center sector accounts for around 4% of global electricity consumption, and is set to continue growing. Improving energy efficiency in this sector is crucial. For example, cost savings in electricity-intensive buildings such as DC-powered data centers can represent savings of 4-6% compared to conventional AC installations.

In addition to the reduction in electrical losses linked to the transport of electricity in cables, there is also the reduction in AC-DC conversion losses.

Providing DC devices (loads) with DC power eliminates power losses incurred through conversion and thus eliminates an estimated 5 to 20% in energy waste. In addition, the AC to DC conversion process at the device level can shorten its operating life. For example, distributing DC power directly to a LED fixture (thus avoiding the AC to DC conversion) can substantially extend its operating life. Plus, distributing DC power locally reduces the cost and footprint of AC to DC adapters and converters.

Transition to DC-powered buildings

In conclusion, DC power distribution in buildings is on the horizon, but change will take time. Even with a move to DC microgrids, there are other significant challenges to be addressed in the coming years, notably the uptake by industry professionals, many of whom need to become more familiar with DC power and its benefits. This is due to the long experience and knowledge of AC power.

Furthermore, advancement in building standards and codes which address specifications for DC-powered devices is required, as with the further analysis of the cost-effectiveness of DC power distribution in retrofit and new construction.

Cables are a fundamental part of a building’s electrical infrastructure and are a critical player in the transition to DC-powered structures. The buildings of tomorrow will be smart, connected, sustainable, and powered by DC. Nexans is committed to this transformation by manufacturing specific cable systems compatible with these new infrastructures. And our strategic partnerships and involvement in key industry groups are helping to make the transition to DC-powered buildings a reality.

A wave of change is happening in the building industry. As we’ve witnessed in the last couple of years, the sector once referred to as “brick and mortar” is bracing itself for a digital revolution. Traditionally slow to embrace new technologies, resulting in decades-long productivity stagnation, digitalization of the $7.5 trillion building construction market is long overdue.

In the 2022 McKinsey global survey of over 500 executives in the building products sector, an overwhelming 70% expected to increase their investment in innovation and R&D. So much so that survey respondents ranked digital design tools such as building information modeling (BIM), software solutions and automation ahead of sustainability.

Investing in innovation and R&D is expected to be the key market differentiator in the next three to five years – rippling across the entire value chain and driven in part by climate change and productivity.

Digitalization of the construction and building sector

Productivity has long been a major issue in the construction sector, with the average capital project running 20 months behind schedule and a staggering 80% over budget. The industry is increasingly applying digital tools across the entire spectrum, from design and construction to operations, but at varying levels depending on the construction phase.

Improving productivity necessitates closing the gap between product and document management systems to simplify and increase technician productivity.

Even as gains have been made, there is vast potential to further improve productivity through increased usage of digital technologies in all phases of the processes—design, construction, and operations.

With increasing government regulation for the industry to decarbonize, digitalization is a crucial enabler in reducing the environmental impact of construction projects globally.

Electrification of buildings

As the electrification of buildings grows and expands in the years to come, ensuring efficient implementation of cabling solutions is essential to safety and productivity gains. Narrowing the gap between productivity management tools and document management systems is one key to easing the work of electricians. As skilled labor shortages continue, further enhancements in information access and traceability are vital.

The digital connection between the physical product and its accompanying documentation is lacking in the industry. This is often the case with electrical products, where installers seldom have easy access to up-to-date documentation. The lack of traceability means details such as who installed the product are often lost once the initial work is completed.

As buildings move from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the demand for skilled electricians will increase, along with the need for tech-related professionals to manage the influx of digital systems and tools required to meet this industry shift.

Foundation of the digital revolution

As the building sector moves forward in its digital transformation, Building Information Modeling (BIM) will increasingly become the standard and foundation of construction projects. This bridging of physical building elements with their accompanying digital format (referred to as BIM content) facilitates the working processes throughout a building project’s value cycle from planning and design to construction and operations.

BIM content provides architects, designers, and builders easy access to essential product information such as installation instructions, energy consumption, eco-labels, operation costs, and product lifecycle. Nexans is working with BIM providers to integrate its offerings so as to facilitate electrical cable installation, maintenance, and safety.

As newer technologies such as drones, robotics, and 3D printing become more commonplace on construction sites, ensuring that BIM is the foundation of the construction industry’s digital strategy is critical. According to McKinsey, the move to 5D BIM, combining 3D physical models of buildings with cost, design, and scheduling data, could result in a 10% savings in contract value by detecting clashes, reducing project life span, and potentially reducing material costs by 20%.

Navigating analog to digital

The shift from analog to digital documentation and traceability is key to moving the building products market forward. And thus, reversing the industry’s fragmentation to ensure better productivity, cost efficiency, and safety. This is especially important in the electrification of buildings to provide safe installation and operations.

Thanks to its cloud-based app, Evermark™, Nexans provides its clients easy access to information about the physical product installed, such as follow-up of maintenance, electrical drawings and product data. Thanks to NFC tags, Evemark™ provides a digital connection between the physical product and the necessary documentation, and ensure full traceability of the electrical installation throughout the product’s lifecycle—from implementation phases to maintenance and replacement. It provides immediate access to pertinent information on- and off-site, reducing cost and time while increasing productivity.

With new technologies come new possibilities. The key is ensuring that future digital tools integrate seamlessly for a heightened level of customer satisfaction.

Today, a fire breaks out every 30 seconds in Europe. 25% of fires are due to electrical failures, representing 275,000 fires yearly. With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas and the demand for electricity increasing, ensuring the electrical safety of buildings is critical.

A vital step to ensuring the fire safety of buildings is taking a holistic approach to testing and certifying electrical cables with their associated components.

A key to this holistic approach is understanding how the shifts in electrical consumption and increased load requirements impact the fire safety of both new and older buildings. An estimated 25% of fires are caused by electrical failures or obsolete, overloaded installations. And this statistic worsens in emerging markets where 80% of building fires are due to non-compliant cables.

In essence, fire safety is a growing concern globally, and ensuring the safety of the building’s occupants is vital.

Electrical cables are the backbone of buildings. The typical office building houses more than 200 kilograms of electrical cables per 100 square meters. Despite their omnipresence, they are unfortunately often forgotten. In older buildings, this can and often does lead to negligence in retrofitting outdated electrical cables and systems to ensure modern safety standards are met. And, with increasing electricity demand, installations in older buildings are often undersized and thus increase the risk of electrical fires.

Today, most older buildings require significant renovations to ensure their electrical systems are compliant with the rules and can adequately handle the loads required in offices, and residential, public and government buildings.

When it comes to new usages, the electrical architecture has to be considered at the early stage to ensure safety is tackled as a whole. There are still too much datacenters burning all over the world putting at risk the economy and sometimes life despite the availability of integrated solutions. Furthermore, photovoltaic installations are also at risk…

Most buildings run on several fuels. They obviously use electricity for lighting systems and electrical appliances, but they also consume fossil fuels such as natural gas or propane for heating systems. This persistent dependence on fossil fuels makes buildings one of the biggest sources of the pollution that is warming the planet.

The terms “electrification of buildings” and “decarbonization of buildings” all describe the transition from fossil fuels to the use of electricity for heating and cooking. In addition to heating and cooling systems using the latest generation of electric heat pumps, there will also be charging points for electric vehicles, which will systematically equip buildings in the future and help to reduce a major source of carbon emissions in developed economies: mobility.

The goal of such a transition: all-electric buildings powered by solar, wind and other zero-carbon electricity sources. In other words, it’s not just a question of increasing the level of electrification of buildings, but also the reliability of their electrical networks.

Cables are seldom the source of a fire, but due to the inherent nature of electrical arcs, their interconnections with electrical equipments and components are prone to igniting a fire. Understanding the interactions between these components is instrumental in ensuring better fire safety in buildings.

Today, most standards and certification bodies focus on validating each component in isolation. This lack of a holistic view of the interactions between electrical components within a building structure must be a concern within the industry. Fortunately, frameworks such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) & Life Safety Ecosystem™ aim to identify the components that must work together to minimize fire risk.

Changing the industry mindset from the certification of each component to consider the interactions of components is fundamental to ensuring their compatibility and overall safety. This holistic and systems approach ensures that proper testing is done to validate that the overall system performance is achieved and certified. And that testing takes into account the usage of components in a real-life setting.

Moving to a systems approach for certification will require suppliers to work together in bringing to market thoroughly tested integrated system offerings that match the performance requirements of customers and failsafe installation processes. This will mean implementing plug and play and modular electrical products that reduce the risk of on-site installation errors and ensure component compatibility.

Nexans aims to provide the highest electrical and fire safety levels by ensuring its cables and wires combat fire propagation, reduce smoke and hazardous emissions during a fire, and maintain the continuous operation of fire safety systems. These are the fundamental pillars of Nexans’ Fire Safety solutions and services.

To reduce hazardous emissions, for example, Nexans Fire Safety’s offering focuses on Low Fire Hazard (LFH) cables and forgoing outdated materials such as PVC.

Our mission to provide innovative products and solutions that meet the safety needs of our customers extends to our dedication to moving the industry to systems compatibility testing and certification. This is an increasingly important opportunity to ensure the fire safety of new solutions.

For example, Nexans recently took a system approach in developing an electrical vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure offering. To do so, we selected key partners to build the integrated solution, thus proving this approach’s viability.

Creating safer buildings will mean fundamental mindset shifts. For customers, it will mean moving their purchasing decisions from solely component cost to a total cost-of-ownership (TCO) approach encompassing fire risk management.

The industry must also encourage collaboration between key partners to ensure an overall benefit to all stakeholders, in addition to industry certification and performance standards with an active participation of insurance organizations.

In the coming years, new offerings must take a solutions approach to further demonstrate their benefits to customers. These benefits include better fire protection, safety, and ease of installation.

In addition, an integrated fire safety system approach to electrical components aligns with the industry’s move to Building Information Modeling (BIM), digital twins, and IoT technologies.

The building and construction industry is increasingly embracing newer technologies and solutions to meet rising floor space demand, stricter sustainability and safety standards, increasing costs, and skilled labor shortages.

As the demand for residential, commercial, industrial, and high-safety buildings is projected to grow in the coming years, meeting demand will require more efficient building construction methods. Those gaining in popularity are 3D printing, drones, robotics, and modular construction.

At the heart of this evolution in the building and construction industry is the increasing demand for electricity, which is expected to grow by 20% by 2030. This means future construction must take into account more electrical cables, connectors, systems, and subsystems, while ensuring smarter and safer installation and operations.

Going from curiosity to a viable tool of the building trade, 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is reshaping the industry and demonstrating its viability to dramatically reduce construction time and costs. Moreover, the benefits extend beyond on-site but to off-site (prefabrication) of building components, adding yet another major application and appeal to its uses.

One of the more progressive moves to 3D printing technology is the Dubai 3D Printing Strategy which aims for one-quarter of Dubai’s buildings to be 3D printed by 2030. Examples include the 2,600-square-foot office complex housing the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) headquarters and the Dubai Municipality completed by robotic construction company Apis Cor.

Benefits of 3D printing in construction have been highlighted during the 2023 Construction Technology ConFex:

• Speed and efficiency: The layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process of 3D printing can dramatically reduce construction time compared to conventional approaches, enabling the project to be completed more quickly.
• Reduced costs: By optimizing the use of materials and reducing labour requirements, 3D printing can reduce construction costs.
• Customization: 3D printing makes it possible to create custom designs and complex architectural elements that would be difficult to achieve using traditional construction methods. Complex and unique shapes can be easily created using 3D printing, allowing architects and designers to explore innovative design possibilities.
• Sustainable construction: Additive manufacturing can minimize material wastage by using only as much material as is needed, promoting sustainability in construction.

However, a number of challenges remain:

• Limits of scale and size: Scaling up 3D printing for large-scale buildings or infrastructure projects remains a challenge. Current technologies may not be able to efficiently produce structures beyond a certain size.
• Structural integrity and quality assurance: It is essential to guarantee the structural integrity and long-term durability of 3D printed components. Rigorous testing and quality assurance processes are required to meet safety standards.
• Integrating electrical systems and other services into 3D-printed structures requires careful planning and co-ordination to ensure their smooth operation.
• Regulatory and legal considerations: As 3D printing in construction becomes more widespread, regulatory frameworks and legal standards must be established to meet safety, liability and compliance requirements.

The construction robotic technology is going from sci-fi to reality in record-breaking time. A report from MarketsandMarkets expects the construction robots market to reach $166.4 million by 2023, representing a 16.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2023. And an IDC report published in January 2020 forecasts that demand for construction robots will grow about 25% annually through 2023.

Applications range from robots that can lay bricks and weld to self-driving diggers and drones that can survey and map construction sites and monitor progress. Most foresee robots assisting construction workers in repetitive and dangerous tasks while helping the industry tackle productivity and labor shortage challenges.

An example is Hilti’s semi-autonomous job site robot, Jaibot. Designed to assist mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contractors, Jaibot uses BIM data to locate and drill holes for interior electrical and plumbing installations.

In the past couple of years, technologies not immediately embraced by the construction industry are now rightly finding their place, going from curiosity to a viable tool in the building trade.

With its roots dating back to the mid-’90s, Modular wiring revolutionizes the electrical landscape by replacing traditional installation methods with a convenient plug and play technology. It provides a quick, safe, and easy solution for connecting lighting and power circuits from the distribution board to the final connection point. Initially used in high-safety buildings like healthcare facilities, modular wiring is now widely utilized in schools and government buildings due to challenges such as labor shortages and increased infrastructure demands.

Over the past 30 years, modular wiring has gained popularity as a cost-effective and user-friendly alternative to traditional electrical installation. It offers numerous benefits throughout the entire construction process, from conception and design to operation and end-of-life. This has instilled confidence in governments, builders, and electrical contractors regarding its safety, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency for both new construction and upgrades.

To meet the increasing demand for floor space, architects and builders are relying more heavily on modular building techniques. According to a recent study by MarketsandMarkets, the global Modular Construction Market size is projected to grow from $91 billion in 2022 to $120.4 billion by 2027, up 5.7% from 2022 to 2027.

This trend is driven by the need for innovative approaches and the ongoing shortage of skilled labor. Modular wiring, along with other subassemblies and components, plays a vital role in enhancing productivity and performance while providing a comprehensive view of costs that includes factors like end-of-life, waste, and safety. With the construction industry shifting towards prefabrication and off-site construction, modular wiring will continue to grow in importance to meet government requirements, reduce costs, enhance quality and safety, and minimize environmental impact.

Moving forward, the industry’s biggest challenges are changing attitudes about adopting newer construction technologies and methods and more encompassing metrics.

This means that electrical cables are not seen as a commodity and, as such, not only selected on price but on type, materials, safety, and more. This changing of metrics sees performance, risk, and sustainability as essential criteria in the overall measurement of a building project.

In Oceania, Nexans supports its customers as they embark on the energy transition journey, offering a complete modular wiring solution. This solution is an efficient and sustainable way to minimize electrical site waste and reduce the cost of installation. Moreover, it encompasses switchboards, corridor wiring, and in-room wiring through to end-of-circuit accessories.

With building information management and design moving to more detailed phases earlier in the conception stage, the inclusion of modular wiring is gaining its place. In addition, supply concerns and rising material costs are increasingly driving electrical contractors to include modular wiring in bids and the design phase.

The future of modular wiring solutions is strong and will continue to gain in popularity due to the benefits of cost-savings, reliability, ease of installation, safety, quality, and sustainability.

Often regarded as a commodity industry, the construction sector is no exception to the trend towards new technologies and innovations. It has a multitude of tools and solutions that are revolutionizing not only processes, but also ways of working and preparing a site. Numerous innovations are already proving indispensable in improving the organization of worksites, the quality of work and the efficiency of teams. The result is a whole new way of designing projects and completing them in record time.

Sustainable development, improved worksite safety, technological solutions to save time and money, digital tools to build more environmentally-friendly structures… Innovation in the building industry is everywhere.

Safe and sustainable electrification is at the heart of our mission

Over 1.1 million fires break out in Europe every year. That’s one fire every 30 seconds. And the human toll is huge: 4,000 fatalities and 134,000 injuries per year. Not to mention the economic impact, with damages running into the billions: in its Global Claims Review 2022, Allianz insurance listed fire as the largest single identified cause of corporate insurance losses, having resulted in more than €18bn worth of insurance claims over five years. Out of those businesses hit by fire, an estimated 70% of them will not restart.

The latest report from the FEEDS (Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety) shows that more than 25% of fires are caused by electrical failures – mainly due to electric appliances or to obsolete, overloaded installations.

But aging infrastructure is only one part of the story. Accelerated population growth and urbanization around the world mean more people are using electricity every day. At this rate, a 20% increase in demand is expected by 2030, and up to 40% by 2040.

And with new forms of energy use come new risks. From tablets to smartphones, our reliance on electrically powered digital devices is only growing. The rise of new energy usages in building, such as electric vehicles or rooftop solar panels, increases the burden on domestic wiring systems, and the risks related to fire.

This higher electrification has a strong impact: the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) found out that electrical distribution, lighting, and power transfer equipment accounted for half of home fires involving electrical failure or malfunction. Knowing the devastating impact of fire, such threat requires an adequate answer to protect assets and life.

How do electrical systems contribute to a safer world?

Cables are the electrical backbone of a building, being present everywhere and in large quantities to transport energy and data. They link rooms and floors, go through the walls without interruption, and their number keeps increasing with new energy usages. The fact that they are usually hidden makes it easy to forget their presence. Yet a typical office building will have over 200kg of cables per 100m². It is therefore essential to ensure that cables are as inert as possible when exposed to fire, to avoid spreading flames throughout the building.

In recent years, the emphasis has been on improving fire performance in response to new regulations, such as Europe’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR). Nexans is deeply engaged in this process, working with its partners, customers, and regulation bodies to promote electrical fire safety in buildings, and to adopt higher safety standards at both the national and international level.

Combating fire propagation

Cables do not represent a danger as such, but due to their omnipresence, they can act as fuel for fire and be a vector of flames propagation. A fire that starts in a vertical electrical installation that comprises low-performance cables will reach the first floor of the building in less than three minutes, and will continue to spread with growing speed.

At Nexans, we aim at revolutionizing the safety of buildings, infrastructures and homes, by using our technological expertise to design cables and wires that offer the highest level of performance against fire. Our Nexans Fire Safety offer underlines what can be achieved: thanks to our Low Fire-Hazard cables, smoke emissions, fire propagation and heat release are minimised. Moreover, the cohesiveness of the cable structure is maintained during fire, reducing or eliminating the production of flaming droplets, hence avoiding the start of secondary fires and limiting the risks of injury for firefighters.

All those elements have a major impact on people’s ability to evacuate safely, on time, and with the best possible visibility. In the meantime, low fire-hazard cables facilitate the work of firefighters as they release water when exposed to flame, reducing the fire temperature and diluting combustible gases.

Now a breakthrough to boost the fire performance of cables is in our pipeline. Based on geopolymer technology, this innovation works by creating a hard and hermetic crust around the stranded wires that makes them incombustible. In addition to improving fire resistance, this technology has the benefit of improving the environmental performance of cables by reducing their embodied carbon content – cutting CO2 emissions by 10 to 15% at the manufacturing level.

Smoke reduction during a fire

Smoke and hazardous emissions are the main cause of causalities during an indoor fire, being responsible for 80% of fire-related deaths. Corrosive gases in smoke attack the lungs, as well as the eyes and skin. On top of this, smoke severely limits visibility, making emergency escapes from a building more difficult.

Nexans Fire Safety range is designed to transform fire safety. Our cables minimise smoke emissions, enabling a visibility ten times higher than with traditional designs in the event of a fire – five times higher than the recommended threshold. Furthermore, they reduce the emission of hazardous and corrosive gases, increasing drastically the chance of escape, as well as assisting firefighters as they tackle the blaze.

Fire safety systems

Fire resistant cables play a crucial role in maintaining the continuous operation of fire protection and life safety electrical systems – even when a building is on fire. Minimum durations for maintaining electricity supplies in the event of fire are set out in national regulations. Cables must be capable of performing reliably even in extreme conditions, with temperatures up to 1,000°C, and for a duration up to 120 minutes.

Fire protection and life safety systems include:

• Fire detection systems: smoke detectors, heat detectors, manual call points
• Fire alarm systems: alarms/sounders, and control panels
• Fire protection systems: active (sprinkler) and passive (such as fire walls and fire-rated doors)
• Smoke control systems (pressurisation and extract systems)
• Building egress systems (including exit signage).

Safety system components rely on connection to the power network. Fire resistant cables are often used to provide power, or to make connections between emergency equipment and control panels. When this is the case, they function as “active” elements since they must maintain electrical continuity or transmit a signal for an adequate amount of time.

Three main technologies are used to produce fire resistant cables.

First generation designs were based on copper conductors wrapped with mica tapes and cross-linked polyolefin. In this case, the core technology is the mica, and cable performance is related to its quality, nature, suppliers, and taping.

Second generation cables were based on conductors insulated with silicone rubber. This material has the property of forming a ceramic shield when burned. This maintains high electrical resistance and it is the most common solution for building applications.

For the latest generation of Fire-Resistant cables, we broadened our range with innovative cables based on the patented INFIT™ insulation technology which combines the advantages of both mica and silicone rubber insulation, but without their drawbacks (mica is difficult to strip, while silicone is soft and brittle). INFIT™ fire performances are similar to usual market technologies (silicone rubber or mica tape), but brings exceptional mechanical performance, making the installation easier and creating value with important time-saving and thus cost-saving advantages.

With INFIT™ cables, it is possible to connect all the devices of a fire detection system, including smoke detectors, to ensure that fires are detected and alarms raised. All of this ensures a rapid escape and contributes to effective firefighting.

We focus on your needs

At Nexans, our mission is to provide innovative products and solutions that meet the safety needs of our cable customers. We give our clients the power to design, install and manage their projects with the highest level of safety for your customers. Nexans Fire Safety solutions and services allow to Anticipate fire risks, Secure assets and Protect Life.

We back this up with comprehensive information and advice to help you make informed fire safety decisions – so we can electrify the future with confidence.

Like other sectors, the automotive industry must evolve to meet future economic and ecological challenges. Currently, thermal vehicles are responsible for nearly 10% of CO2 emissions worldwide. In developed economy such like in France, this figure rises to 15%. The electrification of these vehicles is therefore a key issue in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

According to the World Energy Outlook 2022 published by the International Energy Agency, the increase in global electricity demand between now and 2030 is equivalent to adding the current electricity consumption of the United States and the European Union! Such an increase in electricity is in the range of +5,900 to +7,000 TWh depending on the scenario.

The main contributors to such an increase are:

• electrical transport in advanced economies,
• population growth and demand for cooling in emerging markets and developing economies.

Electric mobility is an important stake and a major driver of additional electricity demand. However, this objective should not only focus on the development and evolution of vehicles by manufacturers but also take into account the infrastructure. It is important to focus on the need for recharging infrastructure and innovative technologies dedicated to electric vehicles (EVs), which should enable users of this type of vehicle to travel anywhere, at any time, with complete peace of mind and ensure the functioning of the electrical system.

Electrical vehicles: a major change coming required by energy transition

The public authorities in several countries are multiplying initiatives to foster this evolution of mobility solutions. Among the actions in force or under study, a growing number of countries have pledged to phase out internal combustion engines or have ambitious vehicle electrification targets for the coming decades. In Europe, the objective set is to stop the sales of new combustion-powered vehicles by 2035.

The IEA Announced Pledges Scenario (APS), which is based on existing climate-focused policy pledges and announcements, presumes that EVs represent more than 30% of vehicles sold globally in 2030 across all modes (excluding two- and three-wheelers). While impressive, this is still well short of the 60% share needed by 2030 to align with a trajectory that would reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

By 2025, it is estimated that the electric vehicle market in France will be worth 12 billion euros, including 8 to 11 billion euros in sales of electric vehicles, 150 to 250 million euros for charging stations and 300 to 600 million euros for the sale of electricity needed for charging.

The fast deployment of EVCS, key condition of the development of electric vehicles

This transition to electric vehicles requires three main conditions to reach the target ambition:

• The development of new & attractive vehicles, with the following issues at stake: battery capacity vs. the energy density of a litre of oil, the availability of mineral resources to fully renew the world’s car fleet (due to the scarcity of rare metals), the challenge of the environmental footprint of an electric vehicle (beyond the sole issue of metal scarcity).
• The availability of energy where and when the vehicles will be charged. While the impact of an EV on the electricity grid is very limited at the domestic level, the 22 million electric and hybrid vehicles expected in 2025 in Europe will significantly increase the overall demand for electricity (from 4,860 in 2020 to 47,000 GWh in 2025).That will require both grid reinforcement, more energy and moreover a smarter way to manage load to balance usage with energy availability.
• Finally the deployment of a dense network of charging stations (EVCS) to provide a solution to the consumer in mobility.

Basically the EVCS network will be efficient if it is deployed as a global ecosystem fitting with consumer needs in four main applications:

• Charging “at home” (90% of EV loads are today done at home, individual or collective);
• Charging “at work” (tertiary or institutional buildings, factories,..);
• Charging “in the city” (shops, restaurants, public parking,…);
• Charging “in journey” (highways).

Each of this application obeys to its own constraints regarding economical cost of deployment, expected time for loading, competition with other vehicles “in queue”, energy billing to the user… Whatever the type of charging solution to be offered (in AC for the majority of needs or DC for fast charging), it will impose significant constraints on the electrical network that needs to be anticipated.

This large and complex ecosystem to deploy in a decade will require major investments but also strong innovation for a maximized installation scalability and smart energy management.

Partnerships and innovation are key

To illustrate this challenge of innovation, we can highlight for instance 2 projects involving Nexans R&D teams in partnership with Enedis in the last years:

• “BIENVENU” project: How to propose scalable and economical Charging infrastructure in collective housing buildings designed far before Electrical Vehicle rising (only 2% equipped in 2022 in France, for ~45% of population living in collective housing) ?
• “SMAC” project: How to create technological conditions to allow Vehicule-to-Grid (V2G) to inject the energy stored in EV batteries in the grid during the peaks of energy consumption or to compensate intermittent energy production from renewable sources?

Nexans also propose with its partner e-Novates a complete range of AC charging stations from 7 to 22 kW designed to fit various indoor/outdoor applications for Business or Public customers.

This product range will be entirely renewed in 2023 with new models fast to install and compatible with the new standard ISO 15 118. In parallel will be introduced the new version of Nexans scalable cabling solution “NEOBUS”, designed in partnership with MICHAUD, dedicated to underground parking with specific fire safety risk integrated.

Nexans is therefore a key player in this evolution of the electric vehicle market. The new solutions proposed will greatly facilitate the daily life of users, both in the private sector and on public roads, and will improve the attractiveness of these new vehicles.

It is clear that the elements of differentiation are the key factors of innovation:

• for vehicles, overall design, autonomy linked to battery power and efficiency, and reliability over time are differentiating factors;
• for recharging infrastructure equipment, we believe that the main differentiation criteria are not linked to hardware but to the digital layer which allows monitoring of the charging stations, interfaced with payment methods, and applications which improve the customer experience. The second area of differentiation is the ease and speed of installation of the kiosks and their connection to the electrical network.

To limit the impact on the environment

The deployment of electric vehicles and their growing share in mobility will have a significant impact on reducing global warming, provided of course that decarbonised electricity is produced and used. However, it is also important to consider the impact of electric vehicles on resources, particularly copper. In 2020, production was 21 Mt for an almost equivalent consumption. Demand will accelerate due to electrification and particularly electric mobility.

In concrete terms, a traditional thermal vehicle requires 20kg of copper, a hybrid vehicle needs twice that amount, 40kg, and an electric vehicle requires 80kg of copper on average, i.e. 4 times more than a conventional vehicle (this amount can reach up to 200kg for certain models like Tesla).

To this consequent increase in metal dedicated to electric vehicles, we can add the copper needed for the recharging infrastructure, the AC and DC recharging equipment, but also the connection system to the electrical network. A conservative estimate is that 3Mt of metal will be needed for this transition.

To limit the impact of the electricity transition on copper resources, it is necessary to accompany the change by a copper recycling chain and the establishment of a circular economy ecosystem.