The world’s largest lithium producer, Albemarle, is looking for a European site to establish a processing plant. So reports the Financieel Dagblad today. The Netherlands would be a serious candidate. Building the plant would require a minimum investment of one billion euros, Albemarle vice president of sustainability Mark de Boer told the FD.
Which other countries in Europe are on the American company’s list, he would not say. However, these countries “can be counted on one hand.” The company will decide within a few months.
Green industry
The arrival of a lithium plant fits well with the EU’s raw materials policy. Recently, legislative proposals were introduced to create more (green) mining in Europe to make the continent more independent. De Boer said the EU’s new policy is one of Albemarle’s considerations for building a plant in Europe.
Lithium is a crucial raw material for rechargeable batteries of electric cars, for example, and thus necessary for the energy transition. In the yet-to-be-built lithium plant, Albemarle wants to process lithium to be suitable for batteries.
Not unknown in the Netherlands
Albemarle is not unknown in the Netherlands, and the company owns a chemical plant in Amsterdam-North, producing raw materials for refineries and other chemical companies.
By the way, this is not where the new plant is built. According to FD, where that will happen is still unclear, but Rotterdam could be a suitable location.
Lithium from Chile
In Europe, we still need to extract lithium, and the lithium that Albemarle processes come from Australia and Chile, among other countries. De Boer does say that the plant must also start recycling batteries on a large scale. The recycling of materials is also a spearhead of the EU and the Dutch government.
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