The German-Australian company Vulcan Energy plans to produce lithium hydroxide in Frankfurt-Höchst using its lithium precursor from geothermal brine. The now-approved plant, which the company itself refers to as the Central Lithium Plant (CLP) – will be used to process lithium chloride (LiCl) into lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM), with the LiCl to be extracted at the upstream geothermal and lithium plant in Landau.
Vulcan’s primary aim with this approach is to create a local source of sustainable lithium in Europe. Vulcan’s geothermal and lithium resources are considered the largest in Europe, with the licence areas concentrated in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany. In 2023, Vulcan announced the results of a final feasibility study for the first phase of its lithium project, according to which Vulcan initially plans to produce 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate per year. The company has now confirmed this figure following the granting of the building permit in Höchst. The volume is expected to be ‘sufficient for the production of approximately 500,000 electric vehicle batteries per year’.
Landau and Höchst – these locations have long been central to Vulcan Energy. The company already operates 1:50 scale test facilities at both sites to refine the processes for the future commercial plants. In April 2024, the first lithium chloride was filtered out of geothermal brine at the LEOP (Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant) in Landau. In November 2024, this precursor product was processed for the first time into battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) in the Höchst Industrial Park.
The CLP that has now been approved is Vulcan’s large-scale commercial processing plant. The lithium specialist has not yet specified when it will go into operation, but assures that the plant’s capacity could be expanded beyond 24,000 tonnes per year in a second stage. Cris Moreno, Managing Director and CEO of Vulcan Energy, commented: “Securing the CLP permit is an important step in the development of a domestic lithium supply chain for Germany and the European Union. We are making substantial progress in our aim to establish a sustainable, domestic and cost-effective source of lithium for the European battery and automotive industries, supporting the EU’s goal of reducing critical raw material dependencies.”
Vulcan Energy estimates the total investment volume for both mature plants at €690 million. The federal government and the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse are contributing €103.6 million to finance both projects. This funding is being provided within the EU’s Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF) through the federal programme ‘Resilience and Sustainability of the Battery Cell Manufacturing Ecosystem’. Additionally, in March 2025, the plant in Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, was selected by the EU as one of a total of 47 strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act.
According to Vulcan Energy, the remaining project financing must be secured by the turn of the year. Future customers play a major role in this. In order to finalise the financing agreement, Vulcan has now made changes to the existing purchase agreements, including contracts with Umicore, LG Energy Solution and Stellantis. “The amendments principally relate to term, volume and scheduled commercial operating dates consistent with the Project timeline used in the financial model for the financing package,” Vulcan Energy wrote. The volumes have also been adjusted “spread offtake allowance more evenly between offtake partners.”
Following the adjustment, LG Energy Solution is to receive 31,000 tonnes of LHM over six years. An agreement has now also been reached with Umicore for 23,000 tonnes over six years. Stellantis is contractually guaranteed 128,000 tonnes of LHM over ten years. The original agreements with these customers mentioned a start of delivery from 2025. With construction now only expected to start in the future, it is clear that deliveries from Höchst cannot begin so early.
In addition, Vulcan Energy states that it is currently negotiating a fourth purchase agreement for phase 1 of the expansion as part of the finalisation of the lithium purchase agreements for project financing. The company intends to finalise the agreement before the signing of the loan agreement, which is planned for the near future.
v-er.eu (PDF)
This article was first published by Cora Werwitzke for Ev Authority’s German edition.
