The Australian government’s export credit agency has provided Vulcan Energy with a letter of support for up to A$200-million to be used towards the financing of its geothermal brine project in the Upper Rhine Valley of Germany.
“This is a tangible and powerful symbol of the sort of Australia - EU links sought as part of the Minerals Security Partnership, which includes Australia, Germany, France, the European Commission and the US,” said Vulcan MD and CEO Cris Moreno.
He said that Export Finance Australia’s (EFA's) letter of support was encouraging and strengthened the ASX-listed company’s position as it entered project-level debt and equity financing for Phase 1 of the Zero Carbon Lithium project next month.
The financing process start is timed to coincide with public funding applications in Germany, Moreno added.
The Zero Carbon Lithium project aimed to decarbonise lithium production, through developing a net carbon lithium business, with the co-production of renewable geothermal energy on a mass scale.
The €1.49-billion Phase One Zero Carbon lithium project is currently targeting 240 000 t/y of lithium hydroxide monohydrate production, with more than 300 GWh/y of renewable power and more than 250 GWh/y of renewable heat production.