Vulcan Energy announces the approval of two grants totalling up to ~€104m for lithium for battery cell production. Grants will enable strategic, domestic lithium production and processing to service European electric vehicle (EV) battery cell production, according to Vulcan.
The grants are funded by the German Federal Government and the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse.
The grants consist of two parts: lithium raw materials production, part of the Company’s Geothermal Lithium Extraction Plant (G-LEP) in Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, and a lithium hydroxide processing part at the Company’s Central Lithium Plant (CLP) in Frankfurt, Hesse.
Li4BAT is designed to assist with building Germany’s and Europe’s critical raw materials supply chain resilience, to supply lithium raw materials and battery-quality lithium hydroxide to service the European battery EV industry.
The grants also recognise the substantial decarbonisation of the lithium supply chain targeted by the Company.
Vulcan Energy Managing Director and CEO, Cris Moreno, commented: “We welcome this strong, tangible support from the German Federal Government, and the state governments of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. The Li4BAT grant will enable our Project to supply sustainable, domestically sourced lithium to the German and European battery EV markets ».
“Lithium is the lifeblood of the energy transition and for EV production and is crucial to transitioning Germany and Europe’s auto industry into the electric age. We look forward to providing further updates on the progress of the Project, including planned completion of the overall financing package and start of construction, in the coming months », he added.
