Britain’s leading geothermal power developer is raising £600 million ($737 million) to produce low-carbon lithium and boost supplies of the metal used in electric vehicle batteries.
Geothermal Engineering Ltd. plans to produce about 12,000 tons per year of lithium carbonate by 2030, enough to produce about 250,000 EV batteries, it said Tuesday. It will use low-carbon power from its geothermal facilities to extract the lithium from deep wells.
Investments in clean and locally produced lithium are a boost for Europe’s energy transition, which is seeing huge demand for EVs that rely on supplies of metals like lithium. It’s also helpful for energy independence: much of the world’s lithium comes from South America and China.
“Our ability to produce both zero-carbon lithium and zero-carbon baseload power will provide a foundation for the electric car market to be truly sustainable in the UK,” said Ryan Law, chief executive of Geothermal Engineering, which is backed by private equity firm Kerogen Capital.
The developer has discovered concentrations of lithium at around 340 parts per million, among the best in Europe, but far lower than the world’s densest sources in countries like Chile.
Read More: Tuscan Geysers That Inspired Dante Can Fix Europe’s Energy Bind
The company is already building the UK’s first geothermal power plant in Cornwall, England, which will use hot steam from deep in the earth to drive turbines that generate electricity.
