Towards European battery production, experts meet in Venice
The 4th edition of the event organised by Alkeemia - In the background the candidature of Porto Marghera for a European hub for the storage of critical raw materials
by Barbara Ganz
Key points
'We need to create from scratch an industry and a value chain that does not yet exist in Europe. It cannot be done alone: we need the collaboration of different skills and visions'. Lorenzo Di Donato, CEO of Alkeemia - (a company based in Porto Marghera and European leader in fluorine chemistry), opens the fourth edition of the Alkeemia battery forum, which brings together the main players in the industry at national and international level with the aim of creating a European supply chain.
The Challenge
"Europe needs giga-factories, we need a broader vision that can respond to market needs by combining productivity with sustainability. We have to start from the base, i.e. by ensuring that the so-called critical raw materials are created on site. Today, for the first time, this issue has entered the agendas of all G7 countries'.
Starting with raw materials, therefore, to think of freeing oneself from dependence on China and securing a genuine competitive advantage: 'Otherwise it would be like thinking of freeing oneself from dependence on oil by building a refinery.
In particular, 'for fluorspar, the basis of the transformation process into hydrofluoric acid, we have great expectations for the reopening of an Italian mine, in Sardinia. It won't be enough to meet requirements, but it certainly helps'. The other key material is graphite: 'At present, 98 per cent of the purification of this material is done in China, with little experience of alternative technologies, but not yet performing well enough.
Investments
In the past few days, the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea has authorised, through the ZLS procedure, the project for the expansion of the Alkeemia plant in Porto Marghera, which envisages the construction of a new anhydrite grinding line, aimed at increasing the plant's production capacity and efficiency. One of the steps envisaged in the investment package that Alkeemia plans for the next few years, a 100 mln base within the next five years. The first step is the new production line for the purification of graphite. 'It will be ready by the end of summer. We are also working on alternative salts to lithium for batteries,' explains Di Donato. The transformation of materials, emphasises the CEO, opens up the attraction of new activities in Marghera for the development of high value-added products: "We invested 20 million in a joint venture with an Australian company that was about to set up in Germany: we will produce graphite derivatives," explains Di Donato.
