Stellantis N.V. and Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd. (CTR) signed a binding offtake agreement for CTR to supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide for use in Stellantis’ North America electrified vehicle production.

CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen Project in California’s Imperial County (earlier post) will recover lithium from geothermal brines using renewable energy and steam to produce battery-grade lithium products in an integrated, closed-loop process, eliminating the need for evaporation brine ponds, open pit mines and fossil-fueled processing.

CTR will supply Stellantis with up to 25,000 metric tons per year of lithium hydroxide over the 10-year term of the agreement. Stellantis announced in late 2021 a similar supply deal to support its European vehicle production.

As part of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis announced plans to have global annual battery-electric vehicle sales of 5 million vehicles by 2030, reaching 100% of passenger car BEV sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger car and light-duty truck BEV sales mix in North America. Stellantis also increased planned battery capacity by 140 GWh to approximately 400 GWh, to be supported by five battery manufacturing plants in Europe and North America, together with additional supply contracts.

CTR will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate along with geothermal energy in Imperial County, California, with a resource production capacity in excess of 300,000 metric tons per year.