Permit for the construction and operation of a lithium plant at Industriepark Höchst granted
Reduction of critical raw material dependencies
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District President Prof. Dr. Jan Hilligardt officially handed over the approval documents for the construction and operation of an industrial-scale central lithium plant (CLP) to the managing directors of Vulcan Energie Ressourcen GmbH, Thorsten Weimann and Carsten Bachg, at Industriepark Höchst. The handover took place at Vulcan's Central Lithium electrolysis Optimization Plant (CLEOP) in the Industriepark in the presence of the Managing Director of the Industriepark operating company Infraserv Höchst, Dr. Joachim Kreysing. Vulcan has been producing sustainable and domestically produced lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) at this plant since the beginning of the year in preparation for the start of commercial lithium production.
The new lithium plant in the industrial park is a central component of Vulcan's first two project phases, each of which provides for the combined extraction of climate-neutral lithium and renewable energy from deep geothermal energy. In the future, the plant will use green electricity to process lithium chloride through an electrolysis process to produce the end product lithium hydroxide monohydrate - a raw material that is essential for the production of electric vehicle batteries. In the first phase of the "Lionheart" project, the lithium chloride is extracted in an upstream process step at a combined geothermal and lithium plant (G-LEP) in the Landau industrial park. Planning permission has already been granted for the construction of the geothermal plant and an associated transformer station. In the second project phase, the extraction of lithium chloride is to be implemented in the Rhine-Neckar region.
Through commercial lithium extraction at the plants in Frankfurt-Höchst and Landau, Vulcan will provide up to 24,000 tons of LHM per year for the European battery and automotive industry in the first project phase, which is roughly enough to produce 500,000 electric vehicle batteries. CLP's production and storage units in Frankfurt-Höchst will be expanded for the second phase of the project.
In a publication by the Darmstadt Regional Council, Prof. Dr. Hilligardt commented: "Independence from international supply chains for future-relevant raw materials is very important, so I am delighted to be able to hand over the approval notice today. This project also sends a strong signal for the Industriepark Höchst site. It is impressive proof of the innovative strength and forward-looking approach of the companies in our Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region."
Infraserv Managing Director Dr. Joachim Kreysing is proud that Vulcan Energy has chosen Industriepark Höchst to advance the development of a future technology: "Germany's transformation as a business location can only succeed with the innovative strength of the chemical industry. Research and production sites like Industriepark Höchst are indispensable for this. Our site offers ideal conditions for companies working on sustainable and innovative solutions."
Thorsten Weimann, Managing Director and Chief Development Officer of Vulcan Energy, comments: "The approval for the construction and operation of our central lithium plant in Industriepark Höchst is an important step in the implementation of our Lionheart project. With the production facilities in Frankfurt-Höchst and Landau, Vulcan will develop a sustainable, domestic and compact lithium supply chain over a total distance of 130 kilometers and thus support the EU's goal of reducing critical raw material dependencies. In addition, by using deep geothermal energy as part of our project, we are making an important contribution to the regional energy transition."
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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