Geothermal lithium extraction plant in southern Germany starts taking shape
Clean Energy Wire / SWR
Work on a new lithium extraction site in southern Germany got underway at the end of last week. Company Vulcan Energy celebrated its groundbreaking ceremony for a combined geothermal and lithium extraction plant (G-LEP) in Landau in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Australian-German company aims to filter lithium chloride from geothermal sources, which can also be used to produce electricity and heat.
Lithium is a key component of batteries used in electric cars and other technologies, making it also a key resource for the energy transition that is still largely sourced from only a few countries outside of Europe. Germany and other EU states are therefore increasingly looking for alternative supplies to reduce their reliance on volatile imports.
The new production plant in Landau marks “a milestone for the energy transition and an important contribution to battery cell production in Europe,” said Rhineland-Palatinate’s state premier, Alexander Schweitzer. “Lithium extraction in the Upper Rhine Valley will increase Germany’s raw material independence and is a strategic project that reverberates far beyond the state’s borders,” Schweitzer added.
Vulcan Energy said the lithium extracted in Landau and other locations in the region will be processed to the final product lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) in nearby Frankfurt am Main. The lithium extraction plant should be fully operational by mid-2028. The company expects an annual output of up to 24,000 tonnes of LHM. The G-LEP facility should also provide up to 275 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean electricity and 560 GWh of renewable heating energy per year.
Vulcan Energy co-founder Horst Kreuter told public broadcaster SWR that the plant in Landau should only be the first in a series of lithium extraction projects in the Upper Rhine Valley. The company aims to ultimately cover more than 40 percent of Europe’s lithium demand, Kreuter said. Vulcan Energy said it had received more than two billion euros in funding to implement its plans, including bank loans and state support. The European Investment Bank (EIB) had provided 250 million euros and Germany’s federal government another 150 million euros.
Researchers have calculated that Germany could cover a sizeable portion of its lithium needs in the coming decades by extracting the metal from existing geothermal wells. According to a 2023 study, a single geothermal power plant could cover up to three percent of Germany's annual lithium demand.
