Energy

Geothermal energy and lithium: the new European frontier for sustainable batteries and energy autonomy

The extraction of lithium from geothermal brines in Europe promises to reduce dependence on imports by integrating renewable energy and battery production for electric vehicles.

by Elena Comelli

23 April 2026

Impianto. A Landau, in Germania, c’è la più grande riserva di litio del continente

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The geothermal energy is at the forefront on several fronts that are essential for energy security: besides producing renewable and constant electricity for the grid, it can also provide us with the raw material for electric vehicle batteries, thanks to thelarge amount of lithium dissolved in many geothermal brines.

Extracting it in this form requires less water and soil than classical extraction and improves the economic viability of geothermal projects, making them more attractive to investors. Currently, there is no local supply of lithium of a quality suitable for batteries in Europe, and producers are entirely dependent on imports from China (which controls 60 per cent of lithium mined globally), Australia and South America.

However, with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles (also driven by the war in the Middle East and the oil crisis), the creation of a local lithium supply chain is becoming a strategic priority.

So the 'white gold rush' has also begun here. According to the International Energy Agency, projects initiated in Europe and the United States could cover around 5% of global lithium demand by 2035, with a major impact on strategic supply chains.

The German project

The first to work in this direction is the australian Vulcan Energy, with the Lionheart project, already well advanced in the Upper Rhine Valley.

Landau

Città di 50mila abitanti della Renania-Palatinato

Google maps

Close to the French-German border, Vulcan has acquired a number of licences in the small town ofLandau, the beating heart of the Rhine wine industry, to exploit the continent's largest lithium reserve, which now places the region at the centre of Europe's push for local production of batteries for electric vehicles.

The Lionheart project aims to produce enough lithium for about 500,000 electric vehicles per year and 275 gigawatt hours of renewable energy from the same source, starting in 2028.

The plant, which received a EUR 500 million grant from the EU Commission, exploits geothermal wells up to 5 kilometres deep to access lithium-rich brine and has already begun the first extractions, with good results.

The hot brine is brought to the surface, where the lithium will be extracted and then converted by electrolysis into lithium hydroxide monohydrate.

The brine is then returned underground, while the lithium prepared for the batteries will be delivered to buyers who have signed supply contracts with Vulcan, first and foremost Stellantis.

The extraction process is powered by the geothermal power plant itself, while the renewable energy and excess heat will be sold to the grid and the local district heating system.

The renewable electricity that will power the project will be generated using Turboden's advanced Orc (Organic Rankine Cycle) technology, optimised for geothermal-lithium integration.

The Orc technology is similar to a traditional steam turbine, but instead of using water vapour, the system vaporises a special organic fluid, specially designed for each project, converting heat into electricity.

In Landau, clean energy will be produced from the heat of the geothermal brine that vaporises the organic fluid, which drives the turbine to generate electricity.

During the process, the geothermal fluid will be cooled to the precise temperature required to extract lithium, which has been dissolved in water for thousands of years.

A plant even near Rome

The plant, which will produce 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year, represents a milestone in the plans of Vulcan, which is also going ahead to acquire other exploration licences around Europe, including Italy, with the Cesano licence a few kilometres from Rome.

Very high concentrations of lithium have been found in geothermal fluids in this area, up to 380 milligrams per litre.

Britain and the EU Objectives

Vulcan is not the only company engaged on this front: in Cornwall, Geothermal Engineering is developing a similar plant, aiming to produce enough lithium for 250,000 electric cars per year and to power 10,000 households with its renewable energy.

The plant uses wells approximately 3 kilometres deep dug into the granite, to feed a power station that has already been operational for a few weeks.

Lithium production for now is limited to 100 tonnes per year, enough for about 2,000 electric vehicles, but is set to increase to 18,000 tonnes per year in the coming years. The UK government has set a target of producing 50,000 tonnes of lithium nationwide by 2035.

The EU also sets itself an ambitious target: by 2030, 10 per cent of annual lithium consumption should come from domestic extraction, 40 per cent from domestic processing and 25 per cent from recycling, according to the Critical Raw Materials Act.

@elencomelli