Vulcan Energy wins 2024 Ruggero Bertani Geothermal Innovation Award

Vulcan Energy Managing Director Horst Kreuter accepts the 2024 Ruggero Bertani Geothermal Innovation Award (source: EGEC)

Vulcan Energie Ressourcen GmbH (Vulcan Energy) has been awarded as the recipient of the prestigious Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2024. The award recognises Vulcan Energy’s innovative project, the Lithium Extraction Optimization Plant (LEOP) from geothermal, designed to revolutionise the production of sustainable lithium in Europe.

The LEOP, inaugurated in November 2023, is located at the site of the Landau geothermal power plant in Germany. Using Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, lithium from the geothermal brine is extracted, converted to lithium hydroxide, and transported to Vulcan’s central lithium electrolysis optimization plant (CLEOP) in  Frankfurt-Höchst for further processing. The LEOP is a critical milestone in Vulcan Energy’s roadmap of harnessing the geothermal lithium potential in the Upper Rhine Graben.

The first operational large-scale geothermal lithium extraction

LEOP stands as a pioneering initiative, marking the first production unit to extract lithium from geothermal. This innovative plant achieves a TRL of 7/8, enabling large-scale production of lithium chloride from geothermal brine with an annual output of 40 tons of green lithium hydroxide. LEOP has the capacity to fuel the creation of approximately 850 electric car batteries annually.

The innovation of LEOP extends beyond its production capabilities. It boasts a climate-neutral footprint and offers substantial environmental benefits over traditional production methods. Moreover, LEOP’s strategic utilisation of geothermal energy presents an additional revenue stream by supplying energy to customers via electricity generation, heating supply to buildings or to industry.

The 2024 award stands for the recognition of demonstrating that geothermal fluids can be used beyond harnessing energy in the form of power and/or heat to extract critical raw materials, such as Lithium, locally in a sustainable manner.

Vulcan Energy’s LEOP project stood out for its innovation, sustainability, and potential to reshape the future of lithium production. The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) congratulates Vulcan Energie Ressourcen GmbH on this remarkable achievement and looks forward to further advancements in geothermal sustainable energy innovations.

“We are happy to have been awarded the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2024. It is very important for us. It shows that we have gone a long way to the success of having the first green lithium in Europe, and we are looking forward to doing it commercially and big,” said Horst Kreuter, Managing Director of Vulcan Energy.

“This year’s award celebrates the tenth edition since 2004 and, celebrates technological achievements and the spirit of collaboration and ingenuity driving progress in geothermal endeavours across Europe,” commented Miklos Antics, President of EGEC.

Joining Vulcan Energy in this year’s list of finalists are Canopus Drilling Solutions, Deutsche Erdwärme GmbH, Halliburton, and Hydrovolve.

Source: EGEC