Proving the ability to extract fully carbon-free lithium from geothermal brines: this was the ambition of the European project, which ends after three years of laboratory and field research.
The EuGeLi (European Geothermal Lithium Brine) project ends with a success: the first kilograms of battery-grade lithium carbonate from European geothermal water have just been produced by the teams of Eramet Ideas, the Group’s R&D and innovation center.
This is a first of kind because the lithium contained in this water has been extracted inline at high temperature and under pressure on the operating site of Soultz-sous-Forêts (Bas-Rhin) operated by our partner Electricité de Strasbourg Géothermie. The extraction process uses an active solid developed by Eramet, in collaboration with IFPEN, to extract the lithium contained in its lithium deposit in Argentina and finally adapted to the temperature and pressure conditions of geothermal water.
This success closes the EuGeLi project, a research collaboration, supported by the EIT RawMaterials, which brought together nine partners for three years.
The technical objectives have been achieved. The next steps will consist in optimizing the economic model in order to assess whether a competitive lithium production scheme for batteries is possible, on an industrial scale, in addition to renewable energy, all made in France and CO2-free.
