Summary sheet
Project concerns the design, construction and operation of an innovative, first-of-a-kind commercial size plant for Vanadium recovery and has a capacity of roughly 8 ktpa of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). The Vanadium will be recovered by processing up to 300 ktpa of a steelmaking by-product (slags) that are at this point in time landfilled and hence the project will support circular economy.
The objective is to recycle up to 300 thousand tonnes of steel slag per year, for an expected production of about 8 000 tonnes of V2O5. The high-grade vanadium steel slags to be recycled will be supplied by integrated steel plants in Finland and Sweden, hence not entailing upstream mining costs and associated operating risks as well as allowing to avoid landfilling of the slags in the future. The European Commission has identified vanadium as a "Critical Raw Material" (CRM)
The project supports a circular economy solution that will reduce the usage of primary resources for vanadium manufacturing. The project is considered (i) a waste treatment facilities, in which other than hazardous waste is chemically treated, and which has a waste capacity of a minimum of 100 tonnes per day and (ii) a facility, in which other than crude iron metals are produced from ore, concentrates and secondary raw materials using metallurgical, chemical and electrolytic methods. Hence, the project falls under Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Directive 2011/92/EU and requires a full EIA. The EIA was completed on 27 January 2022. The Environmental Permit (EP) Application has been submitted by the promoter.
The promoter has been assessed by the EIB as being a private company not 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 European Commission Services and would require the promoter to apply those rules.