Plans for Europe’s first refinery for lithium – an essential component in EV car batteries – have been announced by the business secretary Grant Shapps.
The plant will be on Teesside, and Shapps said it would be the UK’s first large-scale merchant lithium refinery, providing battery grade materials for use in the electric vehicle, renewable energy and consumer technology supply chains.
Eighty-nine per cent of the world’s lithium processing currently takes place in east Asia and the company behind the scheme, Green Lithium, aims for this to be the first merchant lithium refinery outside of Asia.
The UK Government has backed Green Lithium with a grant of over £600,000 through the Automotive Transformation Fund.
Lithium is an essential component of batteries but supplies are at high risk of disruption because of volatile markets and complex supply chains.
Shapps said: “We’re backing companies, like Green Lithium here in Teesside, to grow the new, green industries across the UK, sparking jobs and growth for decades to come.
“This is levelling up in action. The refinery will deliver more than 1,000 jobs during its construction and 250 long-term, high-skill jobs for local people when in operation.
“It is also allowing us to move quickly to secure our supply chains of critical minerals, as we know that geopolitical threats and global events beyond our control can severely impact the supply of key components that could delay the rollout of electric vehicles in the UK.”
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