Summary sheet
The project concerns the construction of two demonstration plants located in central France for the production of battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The concentrator demonstration plant will be located at the mine site near Echassières and the conversion demonstration plant will be located in an industrial park near Montluçon. The project will not produce commercial quantities of material.
The demonstration plants are designed to prove the selected technology, allowing the promoter to de-risk the future commercial plants by identifying issues and reducing the time to ramp-up the technology. Additionally, the demonstration plants will provide the opportunity to train the operations teams leading to an acceleration in the ramp-up in production rate and reducing the time to bring the product to the market. The project and subsequent commercial plants address the growing demand for lithium for battery applications in the EU and aligns with the goals of the green transition, particularly the decarbonisation of the transport sector.
The two demonstration plants, considered as part of the planned full-size project, Article R. 122-2 of the French Environmental Code require a systematic environmental assessment, equivalent to requirements under Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU, as amended by 2014/52/EU, necessitating an EIA. The plants will require a permit under ICPE (Installation Classée pour la Protection de l'Environnement). ICPE incorporates the requirements of the EIA Directive into French law including the requirement for an EIA. The EIA assessment must encompass all operations (across all sites) and all phases (pilot, construction, and commercial). The IED (Industrial Emissions Directive) does not apply to these demonstration plants as they are considered Research and Development Units. A shaft of approximately 1 km in length will be excavated in the existing mine site to provide material for the demonstration plants and considered as an associated works.
The promoter has been assessed by the EIB as being a private company not being subject to EU rules on public procurement or concessions. However, if at the project appraisal, the EIB were to conclude that the promoter is subject to the EU public procurement legislation then the Bank would duly inform the Commission Services and would require the promoter to apply those rules.