MINEX Forum

Tag: renewable energy

  • Renewable energy – focus of EBRD’s activities in Uzbekistan – Trend News Agency

    Renewable energy – focus of EBRD’s activities in Uzbekistan – Trend News Agency

    BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 16. Renewable energy, particularly solar and wind power, is the most important aspect of the EBRD’s [European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] activities in Uzbekistan, a representative of EBRD, Anton Usov told Trend.

    “Last year alone, the EBRD arranged two syndicated loans totaling $520 million to assist in the construction and commissioning of two wind farms with a total installed capacity of 1 GW in the Bukhara region. This landmark financing represents EBRD’s largest renewable energy project in its operational regions,” he said.

    Furthemore, Usov also noted that the bank also arranged a $74 million financing package for the development, construction and operation of a new 500 MW wind farm in the Navoi region of Uzbekistan.

    “It was the first project in Central Asia to use the Identiflight system, which is capable of detecting and tracking birds that are in danger of colliding with turbines. The system allows to start automatic shutdown,” he added.

    According to the EBRD representative, in 2022, the EBRD and the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation of Uzbekistan agreed to jointly develop a national program on methane emissions.

    “This project will be a key planning tool to achieve a 30 percent reduction in methane emissions by 2030 under the Global Methane Commitment (GMP). Last year, Uzbekistan became only the second country in Central Asia to join GMP,” Usov said.

  • Vulcan fires up European lithium extraction plant

    Vulcan fires up European lithium extraction plant

    Vulcan Energy Resources has fired up its lithium extraction optimisation plant (LEOP) in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley – a moment the company describes as a “significant milestone”.

    The budding carbon-neutral lithium developer is nudging closer to being the first company in Europe to produce the sought-after lithium hydroxide concentrate – crucial in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries – for the European market.

    Management has today revealed it has begun the commissioning phase for its LEOP and it is is expected to run until October, when the first bubbling-hot brine will be introduced into the plant for the lithium extraction process to begin.

    The newly-constructed LEOP is a ramped-up version of Vulcan’s pilot plant that has successfully produced lithium chloride from its producing well sites for the past two and half years.

    To extract lithium from brines, Vulcan is employing the adsorption-type direct lithium extraction (A-DLE) method, which has the added benefits of lower operating costs, greater time efficiency and a lower carbon footprint than legacy industry methods of lithium production.

    In the extraction process, the company will use its proprietary sorbent “VULSORB®”, which it has demonstrated to have a higher performance and lower water consumption for lithium extraction when compared with other commercially-available sorbents.

    From the LEOP, the lithium chloride will be refined to lithium hydroxide at Vulcan’s downstream central lithium electrolyser optimisation plant (CLEOP) in Frankfurt- Höchst and packaged up for further testing by notable offtake partners including Stellantis, Volkswagen, Renault, Umicore and LG Energy Solution.

    The commencement of the commissioning of our LEOP facility represents a significant milestone for us, as well as the entire European battery industry. By 2030, Europe is likely to face a significant lithium shortage, which could have serious implications for the European battery and automotive industries if domestic supplies are not realised. Vulcan is gearing up to be the first to produce lithium from Europe, for Europe, but also to be the first company worldwide to produce carbon-neutral lithium. The start of the commissioning of our LEOP facility is a key step toward the implementation of Phase One of our Zero Carbon Lithium Project, and in enabling a secure and independent European supply chain for lithium.

    Vulcan Energy Resources managing director and chief executive officer Cris Moreno

    With the company’s sights set firmly on a 2025 production target, it is also stepping up to help solve Europe’s looming lithium supply shortfall, with production forecast to supply up to 24,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide monohydrate.

    Located in the Upper Rhine Valley that extends across France, Germany and Switzerland, Vulcan has its foot on a 300km “graben” system that contains a sedimentary-hosted geothermal lithium reservoir that hosts 26.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent – the biggest lithium resource in the European Union.

    Pioneering a carbon-free future, the company lays claim to the world’s first integrated renewable energy lithium extraction and lithium hydroxide project with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, with the co-production of renewable geothermal energy on a mass scale.

    As Europe sweats through one of its hottest summers on record, discussions around climate change continue to be front and centre as the subcontinent steers towards its lofty 2050 carbon-neutral goals. With the transition to a global electric mobile fleet in full swing, Vulcan is neatly positioned to meet the unprecedented demand for the critical battery metal with its net-carbon neutral lithium.

  • European Lithium doubles Wolfsberg Project footprint on grant of new licenses

    European Lithium doubles Wolfsberg Project footprint on grant of new licenses

    European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR, OTCQB:EULIF) has taken another step toward becoming Europe’s first local producer of battery-grade lithium on being granted new mining licenses and extensions which double the footprint of the advanced Wolfsberg Lithium Project in Austria.

    A public hearing conducted by the Austrian Mining Authority has resulted in the new licenses and extensions, which come as the continent marches on in the strengthening transition to green energy.

    The company has been granted six new mining licenses while three existing licenses have been extended with one of the extensions applying to the existing Andreas field and two to the newly assigned Barbara field.

    Austrian fast-track

    European Lithium chairman Tony Sage said: “The grant of these mining licenses further reinforces our belief that Wolfsberg will be the first local producer of battery-grade lithium in Europe to fuel the green energy transition.

    “The Wolfsberg Project benefits from Austria’s robust and mature mining industry that reflects many of the aims of the EU’s proposed Critical Raw Materials Act, including a fast track for critical projects like ours.”

    Beyond existing resource

    Wolfsberg Project tenement map.

    EUR’s mining licenses now extend beyond the existing Wolfsberg lithium resource and almost double the project’s footprint.

    There are now 20 licenses covering the Wolfsberg Project, which almost double the footprint for the proposed underground mining operations.

    The licenses and extensions flow on from the Wolfsberg Project Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) released in March 2023 in which mine planning and design incorporated an expanded resource.

    At the time, EUR identified several mining fields extending outside existing license areas that had the potential to be mined in the future.

    Since the DFS, the company applied for a new mining field, called Barbara, adjacent to the existing mining field called Andreas, which contains 11 mining licenses.

    The Barbara mining field provides the company with six new licenses along with the three extended licenses.

    READ: European Lithium strengthens critical minerals portfolio on securing Austrian projects with sample grades up to 3.98%

    European Lithium has also recently increased its Austrian critical minerals portfolio by securing other projects separate to Wolfsberg which have returned sample grades up to 3.98% and have potential to add to the company’s lithium bounty.

    “Significant upside”

    “The grant of the new mining licenses and license extensions provides significant upside to mining operations in the future,” the company’s CEO, Dietrich Wanke, said.

    “We are encouraged by this successful grant as we move toward operational readiness of the Wolfsberg Project,” he added.