There is, for now, only a grain silo and a huge empty land behind the small container port of Lauterbourg, located in northern Alsace, close to the German border. But Rémy Welschinger already sees it as the largest lithium conversion plant in the world. It is expected to produce its first tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide by the end of 2025.
This trader in mining resources, passed by BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, launched two years ago in the emerging sector of white gold. With four other partners, including two specialists in lithium refining, it has just announced the construction of a plant to cover the lithium needs of 500,000 electric vehicles. Viridian, a young company housed in the Strasbourg incubator Semia, has surrounded itself with a panel of recognized players to do this: Technip Energies was responsible for the feasibility study of the plant, which should eventually lead On its “turnkey” project, Veolia Water Technologies must validate the process engineering and will then provide the equipment needed for refining, and CEA-Liten will carry out the product performance tests.
Viridian also has an exclusive contract with the Port of Strasbourg for the leasing of 20 hectares of land located on its northern site. Thanks to this situation, the future factory will be able to receive its raw material by waterway and thus claim logistics with a limited carbon impact.
Raise a lot of money
It will probably take no less to convince investors. To achieve his ends, Rémy Welschinger will indeed have to raise a lot of money: the cost of building a first production line, with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, is estimated at the very least. to 150 million euros, then 50 million for each of the three additional lines. “It’s much less than all the mining projects that I have been able to support so far”relativizes the entrepreneur.
A first fundraiser must be carried out this year, to finalize the feasibility budget. Rémy Welschinger hopes to raise some 5 million euros in equity, or even more, which will allow him to order heavy equipment from the factory. But it is only once the performance of the facilities has been determined by the feasibility study that investors and investment banks can really be called upon.
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