Mobile plant to extract lithium from 300-million-year-old brines for EV batteries

Fraunhofer IEG and partners launched the RoLiXX project to build a transportable system for extracting lithium from geothermal brines.

The pilot will be tested at real geothermal facilities in the North German Basin to evaluate performance, scalability, environmental impact, and cost.

If successful, the project could create a local European lithium supply for EV batteries while geothermal plants produce heat and lithium together.

The effort aligns with Europe’s push for critical raw materials and is backed by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.