Tees Valley Lithium (TVL) and Weardale Lithium (WL) have secured a joint funding package of approximately £613,000, including a grant of approximately £430,000 from Innovate UK, the UK's national innovation agency. The funding, provided under the Launchpad: Net Zero, CR&D Tees Valley, R2 competition, aims to support innovation projects that contribute to the Net Zero innovation cluster in Tees Valley and align with the government's goals in the Levelling Up White Paper. TVL and WL will use the funding to advance feasibility studies and scale-up activities for the production and refinement of lithium extracted from geothermal brine resources in the North East of England. The project aims to develop an integrated and robust route from 'borehole to battery' within the region.

TVL is establishing Europe's largest low-carbon merchant lithium hydroxide refinery at Wilton in the Teesside Freeport. The refinery will have four trains that will produce 24,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium hydroxide or carbonate equivalent. WL, on the other hand, aims to become a UK supplier of lithium from geothermal brines. The collaboration between TVL and WL will help accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and meet net-zero targets by securing a local supply of lithium for refining and battery-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate production. The project will also generate highly skilled science, technology, and engineering opportunities while reducing the environmental impacts and supply risks of imported raw materials.

Sam Quinn, Director of Tees Valley Lithium, expressed delight in receiving the grant and emphasized the collaboration's goal of bringing back high-value manufacturing to the North East and developing a UK-based supply chain for the lithium sector. Stewart Dickson, CEO of Weardale Lithium, highlighted the importance of the collaboration in advancing towards larger scale testing and construction of pilot facilities, which will contribute to the development of an integrated and coherent supply of lithium in North East England.

Overall, the funding secured by TVL and WL will support their efforts to advance lithium production and refining in the North East of England, contributing to the development of a local supply chain for the lithium sector and the acceleration of the adoption of electric vehicles in the UK.