More than US$100m has been invested by Stellantis in Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) Holdings to accelerate the development of its Hell’s Kitchen project in Imperial County, California, stated to be the world’s largest geothermal lithium project.
The Hell’s Kitchen facility has a total resource capacity to produce up to 300,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent annually; the lithium produced at the site will be used to support Stellantis’s BEV eligibility for consumer incentives under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The companies have expanded their initial supply agreement, with CTR now required to supply up to 65,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) each year over a 10-year contract term.
The Hell’s Kitchen project will recover lithium from geothermal brines using renewable energy and steam to produce green battery-grade lithium products in a fully integrated process.
“The foundation of our industry-leading decarbonization drive includes low-emissions production and sustainable supply as the building blocks for our electric vehicles,” commented Carlos Tavares, CEO, Stellantis. “The latest agreement with CTR is an important step in our care for our customers and our planet as we work to provide clean, safe and affordable mobility in North America.”
“This substantial investment in CTR by Stellantis marks an outstanding milestone for our company and further solidifies our efforts to support sustainable electric-vehicle battery production,” said Rod Colwell, chief executive officer, CTR.
“With EV adoption growing rapidly in the US and throughout the world, it has never been more important to ensure battery materials are sourced and produced responsibly. Through localizing the battery supply chain, we can minimize supply chain risk and create thousands of jobs in a disadvantaged community. We applaud the leadership of Stellantis and look forward to working together to set new industry benchmarks for reliability, efficiency and sustainability.”