Vulcan Energy has announced that the German Government has approved $119 million (€104 million) in grants for its lithium for battery cell production funding project, Li4BAT.
The grants, funded by the German Federal Government and the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, will be disbursed pro rata over 36 months following eligible expenditure from 1 October 2025.
It will go towards industrial-scale lithium production and processing as part of the firm’s phase one Lionheart project. This includes lithium raw materials production as part of the geothermal lithium extraction plant in Landau, and a lithium hydroxide processing part at the central lithium plant in Frankfurt.
The Li4BAT project is designed to build German and European critical raw materials supply chain by supplying lithium raw material and lithium hydroxide to service the European EV battery industry.
The disbursement of the Li4BAT grants is subject to certain conditions such as the finalisation of the overall Phase One financing package by 1 September 2025, starting construction by January 2026. It also includes the planned completion of the Raw Materials Fund equity investment, which is managed by the development bank KfW, by 31 March 2026.
Cris Moreno, managing director and CEO, Vulcan Energy, said, “The Li4BAT grant will enable our project to supply sustainable, domestically sourced lithium to the German and European battery EV markets. Lithium is the lifeblood of the energy transition and for EV production and is crucial to transitioning Germany and Europe’s auto industry into the electric age. We look forward to providing further updates on the progress of the project, including planned completion of the overall financing package and start of construction, in the coming months.”
