ASX-listed Vulcan Energy has started with construction at its central lithium chemical plant Infraserv Industrial Park Höchst, in Frankfurt, which one of the largest major chemical and energy precincts in Europe.

The major construction works groundbreaking ceremony hosted Hesse State Minister-President Boris Rhein and other key government, financial and industry stakeholders, which Vulcan says underscores the high-level support for domestic lithium production in Germany and its strategic role in the European battery value chain.

The downstream central lithium chemicals plant will be used for the conversion of lithium chloride into lithium hydroxide monohydrate using electrolysis.

Lionheart, Vulcan’s first phase of production, targets production capacity of 24 000 t of lithium hydroxide monohydrate, which is enough to supply 500 000 electric vehicle batteries a year. 

Additionally, 275 GWh of renewable power and 560 GWh of heat will be generated every year as a co-products for local consumers over the project's estimated 30-year life.

Vulcan MD and CEO Cris Moreno says the company is delighted to move beyond preparatory works and start full scale construction at the commercial lithium chemical plant.

"This groundbreaking event follows a similar ceremony held at our upstream lithium extraction plant in Landau late last year and highlights the progress towards our construction schedule and our 2028 commercial start of production target.

"We are grateful to all our stakeholders who joined us for the event and are working with Vulcan to bring Lionheart to life," he states.

The company secured the required €2.2-billion, or $3.9-billion funding package for the project in December 2025.

Located in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field between Germany and France, Lionheart is targeted to be the first of many phases of production for Vulcan and is a lighthouse project for Europe’s energy and critical raw material resilience.

At Lionheart, lithium is to be extracted from low impurity geothermal sub-surface brines using Vulcan’s adsorption type direct lithium extraction technology.

Naturally heated, the brine powers production and conversion of lithium to battery-quality material by creating a renewable energy co-product for use in operations, with surplus sold into the local energy market.

Vulcan’s two-step process starts with lithium extraction and is followed by downstream processing of the lithium using electrolysis at its central lithium processing plant.