A coming lithium hydroxide factory on Teesside could supply the company looking to rescue plans for Britishvolt's £3.8bn gigafactory in the North East.
Tees Valley Lithium, which is building a £200m facility in Redcar, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Recharge Industries, an Australian start-up which administrators chose as buyer of the failed battery company. In an update to investors, Tees Valley Lithium - owned by Alkemy Capital Investments - said it would continue good-faith negotiations with the firm, aiming toward a definitive offtake and supply agreement.
It is hoped that Tees Valley Lithium will provide lithium hydroxide to a future Northumberland plant and another gigafactory operation Recharge is looking to launch in Geelong, Australia. Both firms have also agreed to work together on jointly sourcing lithium spodumene - a raw material - to be used at Tees Valley Lithium's refinery in Port Hedland in Australia, where it will be converted to lithium sulphate and shipped to Teesside to be turned into lithium hydroxide.
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The announcement comes only hours after Recharge was announced as the preferred bidder for Britishvolt, which ran out of money and collapsed into administration. There are hopes that the deal will revive plans for a 3,000-job gigafactory making batteries for electric vehicles near Blyth, Northumberland.
Recharge founder David Collard said: "This MOU links two like minded companies to enable the critical mineral supply chain needed to build significant battery manufacturing capability in Australia, the US and the UK and underscores our intent to revive the fortunes of Britishvolt. We look forward to integrating lithium hydroxide from TVL into our established and high performing supply chain."
Alkemy and TVL director Sam Quinn added: "We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Recharge Industries, a company which shares our philosophy and vision of powering the transition to a low-carbon and low-emissions future through the development of onshore UK facilities in the EV and battery cell supply chain."
Tees Valley Lithium has secured planning permission for its 1,000 job factory at the Wilton International site and hopes to be operational from 2025. Last month the firm indicated it could secure Government funding for its plans which hope to produce 96,000 tonnes per year of lithium hydroxide - enough for about 15% of European electric vehicle makers' requirements.
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