Portugal: Galp and Northvolt to build new lithium conversion facility
Both companies will establish a joint venture, called 'Aurora', to develop an integrated plant to further advance in their respective sustainable objectives.
Galp and Northvolt have agreed to set up a joint company as the first step to develop an integrated lithium-battery value-chain aligned with Portuguese and European ambitions. The facility, which has been named ‘Aurora’, is set to have an initial annual production capacity of up to 35,000 tons of battery grade lithium hydroxide and is expected to grow more than tenfold by the end of the decade.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reposition Europe as a leader in an industry that will be vital to bringing down global CO2 emissions, in line with European and Portuguese climate-change priorities. To be successful in this drive, we must all work together, industry and decision makers, with a sense of urgency, because if we do not claim this role today, others will," said Andy Brown, CEO of Galp.
The plant will implement a proven conversion process thanks to recent improvements and technologies developed to increase sustainability and efficiency. In addition, the joint venture is aiming to enable the use of green energy as main power for the conversion process, which will result in the eventual replacement of natural gas as its primary fuel.
“The development of a European battery manufacturing industry provides tremendous economic and societal opportunity for the region. Extending the new European value chain upstream to include raw materials is of critical importance,” commented Paolo Cerruti, Co-Founder and COO of Northvolt. “This joint venture represents a major investment into this area, and will position Europe with not only a path to domestic supply of key materials required in the manufacturing of batteries, but the opportunity to set a new standard for sustainability in raw materials sourcing. This initiative comes to complement a global sourcing strategy based on high sustainability standards, diversified sources and reduced exposure to geopolitical risks," added Cerruti.
Currently, Aurora representatives are looking at several possible site locations while conducting technical and economic studies. The company predicts a start of operations by the end of 2025 and to commence its commercial operations by 2026, after an estimated investment of €700 million which would create around 1,500 direct and indirect jobs.
The plant will be able to deliver lithium hydroxide sufficient for 50 GWh of battery production per year (sufficient for approximately 700,000 electric vehicles). As part of the agreement, Northvolt will secure an offtake for up to 50% of the plant’s capacity for use in its battery manufacturing.
