Vulcan Energy has begun major construction works at its central lithium chemical plant at Infraserv Industrial Park Höchst in Frankfurt. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the Minister-President of Hesse, Boris Rhein, the Lord Mayor of Frankfurt am Main, Mike Josef, and other government, financial and industry stakeholders. The event underscored high-level support for domestic lithium production in Germany and its strategic role in the European battery value chain.
The new plant will convert lithium chloride into lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) using electrolysis. The first phase, named Lionheart, targets an annual production capacity of 24,000 tonnes of LHM—enough for approximately 500,000 electric vehicle batteries. It will also generate around 275 GWh of renewable electricity and 560 GWh of heat for local consumers each year over an estimated 30-year project lifespan.
Cris Moreno, Managing Director and CEO, said the company was pleased to move beyond preparatory works and launch full-scale construction at the commercial lithium chemical plant. He noted that this groundbreaking follows a similar ceremony at the upstream lithium extraction plant in Landau and reflects progress toward the 2028 commercial start of production.
Vulcan secured a €2.2 billion funding package in December 2025 and reached a positive Final Investment Decision on the Lionheart project. Located in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field between Germany and France, Lionheart is designed as a lighthouse project supporting Europe’s energy and critical raw material resilience. Lithium will be extracted from low-impurity geothermal sub-surface brines using Vulcan’s adsorption-type direct lithium extraction technology. The naturally heated brine will power both the extraction and conversion processes, supplying renewable energy for operations and surplus power to the local market.
With all regulatory construction approvals in place, the groundbreaking marks the transition from preparatory works to full-scale construction of both upstream and downstream components of the Lionheart project.
Source: Vulcan Energy
