Luxembourg-based Livista Energy confirmed on Thursday it will build its first European lithium refinery at Emden Seaport – the third-largest German North Sea port, Kallanish reports.

The company signed a letter of intent with Niedersachsen Ports to secure a 32-hectare industrial land plot to build the lithium chemical plant. The facility is planned to produce 40,000 tonnes/year of battery-grade lithium products – roughly 30,000 t/y of lithium hydroxide and 10,000 t/y of lithium carbonate. First production is slated for 2026.

Commenting on the site selection, Lower Saxony minister of economic affairs Olaf Lies highlights the 100% renewable power supply available to the refinery. “It has always been our ambition to develop our coast into a gateway and a hub for clean energy for the whole of Germany,” he says. “The opportunity is great because industry follows energy. Settlement takes place where energy is available – preferably cheaply and cleanly.”

Livista’s ceo Daniel Bloor adds Germany offers a clear policy towards electrification and battery cell production. “We will have access to the right partners and create even shorter, cleaner, more sustainable supply chains with embedded resilience,” he adds.

France’s Technip Energies should start the project’s front-end engineering and design (FEED) study soon, targeting completion in 2024. A final investment decision is expected after that.

The refinery will produce enough lithium chemical to power 850,000 EVs per year, but Livista already indicated ambitions to double its capacity at a later stage. By 2030, 50% of the first plant’s feedstock should be coming from recycled sources, which the Lower Saxony region sees as a pioneering move in the circular economy.

Earlier this year, Livista announced plans to build a spodumene concentrate conversion facility in Ghana in partnership with CAA Mining to feed its European refinery. The company was also investigating whether UK feedstock could be part of its supply chain, backed by a £9.4 million ($11.9m) grant from the UK’s Automotive Transformation Fund.