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Automaker expands partnership with geothermal lithium firm Metal Tech News - June 24, 2022
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares lays out the automaker's electric vehicle ambitions during the March 1 unveiling of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan at a conference in Amsterdam.
To further secure supplies of sustainably produced lithium for the batteries powering the electric vehicles manufactured by Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, and its other European brands, Stellantis has expanded and extended its partnership with Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd., which is advancing the Zero Carbon Lithium project in Germany's Rhine River Valley.
To produce the zero-carbon lithium promised by the project's name, Vulcan will draw lithium-enriched geothermal brine from reservoirs below the Upper Rhine River Valley and use the energy produced from the geothermal resource to extract the lithium and upgrade it to the hydroxide needed for lithium-ion batteries. The lithium-less brine will then be injected back into the reservoir, and excess zero-carbon electricity will be fed into the energy grid.
Late last year, Stellantis agreed to purchase up to 99,000 metric tons of Vulcan's Zero Carbon Lithium over five years. Under a new agreement, the global automaker has extended this binding offtake agreement to 10 years.
In addition, Stellantis is investing 50 million euros (US$52.7 million) into Vulcan, which will make the automaker the second-largest shareholder of the Australia-based lithium and energy company.
"Making this highly strategic investment in a leading lithium company will help us create a resilient and sustainable value chain for our European electric vehicle battery production," said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
Vulcan will use the major investment by Stellantis to expand production drilling at its Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field, which is already producing geothermal energy and will be home to Zero Carbon Lithium.
"We are fully aligned with Stellantis' decarbonisation and electrification goals, which represent some of the most ambitious in the industry," said Vulcan Energy Resources Managing Director Francis Wein. "It is encouraging to see a leading automaker investing in local, low carbon lithium production for electric vehicles. As our largest offtaker, we look forward to deepening our relationship with Stellantis as a substantial shareholder in Vulcan and our Zero Carbon Lithium business."
Stellantis – which also owns the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands in North America – plans to sell 5 million battery EVs per year by 2030.
Under its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis plans to convert 100% of its European and half of its North American passenger car and truck sales to electric models by the end of the decade.
At least some of the lithium going into its North American EVs will come from geothermal brine in California.
Earlier this month, Stellantis announced an agreement to offtake up to 25,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year from Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd.'s Hell's Kitchen project in the Salton Sea area of Southern California.
Much like Vulcan's Zero Carbon Lithium, CTR will leverage geothermal energy to extract and upgrade lithium while producing excess zero-carbon electricity to feed into the grid.
"We continue our quest of forming strong relationships with partners who share our values as we collectively fight against global warming and provide clean, safe and affordable mobility to our customers," said Tavares.
Further details of Stellantis' offtake agreement with Controlled Thermal Resources can be read at Stellantis orders Hell's Kitchen lithium in the June 2, 2022 edition of Metal Tech News.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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