Battery firm EVE Energy to build lithium plant at Qinghai
Company to procure 30,000 tonnes through joint venture
EVE Energy will acquire a stake in a local lithium producer in China that will see it procure 30,000 metric tonnes of lithium per year through a joint venture, Reuters reports.
The Chinese battery firm will acquire a 28.1% stake in Jinkulun Lithium Industry.
The pair will form a joint venture based in Qinghai province and spend 1.8 billion yuan to build a lithium plant there.
EVE Energy will own an 80% stake in the venture and Jinkulun will have 20%. The plant is projected to manufacture 30,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate and hydroxide per year within the next three years.
The first phase of the project will secure 10,000 metric tonnes in production capacity initially.
Qinghai province is home to China’s largest salt lake. CATL and BYD also operates their battery factories there.
In May, EVE Energy announced that it was planning to spend US$2.1 billion with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt in a nickel and cobalt project in Indonesia.
Electric vehicle manufacturers and battery makers like EVE Energy are focusing their efforts on securing lithium supply as the material is seeing high demand for the increased production of electric vehicles.
Earlier this month, General Motors also announced its own lithium procurement project in the US. LG Energy Solution last month also said it plans to secure 10,000 metric tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year from an Australian mining firm.