From Mine to Megawatt: How NLR Is Securing Critical Mineral Supply Chains for the Power Grid
Sarah Inskeep Talks Supply Chains for Energy Technologies—and One NLR Model That Brings Them Together
When you plug in your phone or laptop, do you ever think about the wires that carry the electricity to the battery? Ok, now what about the powerlines, transformers, and substations that move the electricity to your home?
Going back even further, what about the copper, steel, cobalt, and other critical materials that were used to make the battery and to build the powerlines, transformers, and substations?
Critical materials are embedded in every component that generates, moves, and manages electricity. The pathways these materials take from mine to finished technology are complex, and the types and amounts of materials needed for each step of the manufacturing process are not well documented.
For example, lithium cobalt oxide batteries in most consumer electronics rely on lithium that may have been extracted in Australia, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, or even the United States. From there, the lithium may be transported to China for use in manufacturing before being assembled into products like phones or laptops with numerous other components—each with its own complex supply chain and set of materials. Those products are then sold to users around the world.
At the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), I’m part of a team that models and analyzes integrated supply chains for energy technologies. We simulate full supply chains, from mines and refineries to manufacturers of components and finished technologies. We study questions like, where are our vulnerabilities as a nation? Where are there bottlenecks in our supply chains? What risks should we be trying to mitigate as domestic industries expand our capacity to produce more critical minerals and key technologies in the United States?
Grid operators, regulators, U.S. product manufacturers, and more need this information to ensure we have the technology to meet our nation’s increasing energy demand. This work is so interesting to me and has many dimensions worth exploring.
NLR’s RING Model Shows Interactions Among Supply Chains
I am a technical lead for NLR’s RING Model, which stands for Recursive Integrated Networks for Growth Model. It is one of several NLR tools we use to understand critical mineral supply chains. The tool lets us explore the intricate global supply chains for multiple energy sector technologies and the materials they rely on.
The ability to model multiple supply chains is really important because many energy technologies use the same materials and manufactured components, and other sectors rely on these technologies and materials, too. So, we need to be able to understand how the supply chains interact and when they might be competing with one another.
The RING Model is a scenario-based tool and covers every stage of a material’s life cycle, from extraction to finished technology. It allows us to track stocks and flows of materials and to simulate how changes in one supply chain affect other supply chains. For example, we can evaluate the implications of a foreign supplier cutting off trade for a particular metal. RING can also help us evaluate potential benefits of adopting more domestically produced alternatives. Like, what benefits might we see if the United States reduces our dependency on battery chemistries that use cobalt? How might that shift demand for other materials and benefit or add pressure to other supply chains?
As part of a study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, we are using the RING Model to analyze transmission supply chains under different grid buildout scenarios. We translate future needs for power transformers, circuit breakers, transmission lines, and transmission towers into material and manufacturing needs. This allows us to understand how much material is used today, how much additional production or imports may be needed, and which countries could supply those needs. By working with NLR grid modelers, we can also look at how the grid might change if certain types of materials or equipment are not available.
Decision makers can use these insights for a wide range of planning needs: identifying potential bottlenecks before they delay projects, evaluating domestic manufacturing opportunities, diversifying sourcing strategies, and more.
Emerging Opportunity in Copper
One area we would look to explore more is copper, which is used in almost every electronic product. If you look at technology supply chains in isolation—like batteries or transformers—there appears to be more than enough copper to meet future demand. But when you look at copper supply chains together, the copper industry and partners are finding there could be a global supply deficit of 30% by 2035.
This is where our integrated supply chain modeling can help by showing how much demand might increase and from which sectors, so we can explore strategies to scale domestic extraction, recover copper from alternative feedstocks, or use this critical mineral more strategically.
Another important aspect of the copper supply challenge is local support for mining projects. Social acceptance can really influence how quickly a new project moves forward, so it can be valuable to engage citizens early. NLR can serve as an objective, credible source in these conversations. We have existing partnerships with industry to help address technical challenges, and, at the same time, we have unique programs like Energy to Communities (E2C), which provide free technical assistance to communities who have questions about energy projects, including mines.
From local acceptance of new mines, to permitting and regulatory timelines, to availability of raw and refined materials, there are many supply chain factors that can impact our nation’s ability to deliver reliable, secure, and affordable energy.
At NLR, we have the expertise and tools to include supply chain insights in planning discussions. The better we understand our supply chains, the better prepared we will be to meet growing energy demand.
Learn more about NLR’s grid modernization and critical minerals research, including its critical mineral supply chain and market analysis.
Last Updated April 28, 2026