Vulcan Energy has begun civil construction activities at the Lionheart 30 MW geothermal power plant site in Landau, Germany, marking the next stage of development for the project after early bulk earthworks.

The company said the current phase covers preparation and construction of key foundations and concrete works for the power plant buildings and equipment, as well as the buildout of road infrastructure. This stage comes before the erection of buildings and the arrival of process equipment for assembly.

Lionheart is located in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field between Germany and France and forms Vulcan’s first phase of production. The project involves an integrated lithium and renewable energy development targeting production capacity of 24 000 t of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM), enough for approximately 500 000 electric vehicle batteries per annum. It is also expected to produce 275 GWh of renewable power and 560 GWh of heat per annum for local consumers over an estimated 30-year project life.

At the Landau commercial site, which sits on approximately 10 ha. in the Messegelände Südost industrial park, Vulcan is building both a lithium extraction plant and a geothermal energy plant. The company said the combined facility is designed to produce renewable, baseload geothermal energy and a high-quality lithium chloride intermediate product for downstream processing.

Both plants will be connected to a network of pipelines and cables, described by the company as interconnected pipelines and power, to transport lithium brine and industrial water from the well sites to Landau and back to the well sites for underground re-injection.

Vulcan’s Managing Director and CEO, Cris Moreno, commented: "We are delighted to move beyond preparatory bulk earthworks and into civil construction activities at our Lionheart geothermal power plant, an integral part of the Lionheart integrated lithium and geothermal project. By producing our own baseload heat and power, where excess heat will be sold to local consumers, Lionheart is able to deliver low-cost lithium production with significant insulation from high energy prices now and in the future.

"It is encouraging to see Lionheart project execution progress on time, and on budget – a great start with our project partners. Step by step, we are building cost competitive lithium production for Europe, and we look forward to keeping our shareholders abreast of further progress as the project develops."

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