New Delhi: Stellantis N.V. and Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings Inc. (CTR) on Saturday announced an investment of USD 100 million from Stellantis to advance the development of CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen project.
It is a world’s largest geothermal lithium project with a total resource capacity to produce up to three lakh tons of lithium carbonate equivalent each year. Lithium that will be produced at Hell’s Kitchen will support Stellantis vehicles’ BEV eligibility for consumer incentives under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The companies expanded the initial supply agreement, which now calls for CTR to supply up to 65,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) each year over a 10-year contract term. This new agreement incorporates the original lithium supply agreement signed by both companies in June 2022 for up to 25,000 metric tons of LHM per year.
CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen project in California’s Imperial County will recover lithium from geothermal brines using renewable energy and steam to produce truly “green” battery-grade lithium products in a fully integrated process. This eliminates the need for evaporation brine ponds, open pit mines and fossil-fueled lithium processing.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said “The foundation of our industry-leading decarbonization drive includes low-emissions production and sustainable supply as the building blocks for our electric vehicles.”
According to the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis announced plans of reaching a 100% passenger car BEV sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger car and light-duty truck BEV sales mix in the United States by 2030. To achieve these sales targets, the Company is securing approximately 400 GWh of battery capacity, supported by six battery manufacturing plants in North America and Europe. Stellantis is on track to become a carbon net zero corporation by 2038, all scopes included, with single-digit percentage compensation of remaining emissions.
For Stellantis CTR is scheduled to commence battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate supply from 2027. The company is expecting to create 480 construction jobs and upward of 940 direct project jobs when the resource is fully developed.
