French and German geothermal lithium projects classified as strategic by the EU

The European Commission in Berlamont Building, Brussels, Belgium (source: Ecuador Foreign Ministry, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Carlo Cariaga 4 Apr 2025

The geothermal lithium projects of Vulcan Energy Resources in Germany and Eramet and Électricité de Strasbourg (ÉS)  in France have been classified as “strategic projects” by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act. With this distinction, the two projects can benefit from streamlined and priority processing, thus facilitating administrative procedures and funding applications.

The CRMA establishes clear targets for increasing domestic capacities within the strategic raw material supply chain, while improving access to funding, and ensuring adherence to the highest social and environmental standards. “Strategic projects” identified under the CRMA are those that are deemed to have the the potential to help increase European Union (EU) capacity to extract, process and recycle strategic raw materials and diversify EU supplies from third countries.

Vulcan Energy has received the distinction for their Phase One Lionheart Project, located in the Upper Rhine Valley region bordering Germany and France. The project aims to harness geothermal heat and produce lithium from geothermal brine using their in-house VULSORB sorbent.

“Achieving Strategic Project status from the European Commission validates the importance of our integrated lithium and renewable energy project to European industry, and builds momentum for the delivery of Europe’s first fully domestic and sustainable lithium value chain,” said Cris Moreno, Managing Director and CEO of Vulcan Energy.

“The CRMA plays a pivotal role in driving change and highlighting the importance of sustainable raw material extraction in Europe. With access to Europe’s largest lithium resource, our Project is strategically positioned to support the CRMA benchmarks and diversify the EU’s lithium supply away from third countries.”

The Alsace Géothermie Lithium (Ageli) of Eramet and ES aims to harness the geothermal waters of the Rhine Graben in Northern Alsace, France to produce decarbonated energy and the lithium needed for Europe’s future battery industry. To achieve this, Eramet has adapted its patented process for direct extraction of battery-grade lithium, one of the most responsible in the world, which is already operational on the Centenario site in Argentina. A pilot project had been inaugurated at the Rittershoffen geothermal heat plant in 2023.

“We are delighted that the European Commission considers Ageli to be a “strategic project” capable of making a lasting contribution to the European Union’s security of supply. We hope that this label will act as a lever for the development of this ambitious project, and that it will result in political and financial support commensurate with the technological, economic and strategic challenges to overcome,” said Geoff Streeton, Vice President for Strategy, Innovation and Business Development of Eramet.

“The European Commission’s recognition marks an important step forward for the Ageli project. It encourages us in our ambition to develop, with our partner Eramet, one of the most responsible lithium production projects in the world, with a positive impact on the region. Our teams are committed to providing Alsace with our expertise in the development of high-temperature geothermal projects and our experience in operating two geothermal plants for almost 10 years,” added Marc Kugler, CEO of ES Group.

The European Commission received 170 applications from companies seeking Strategic Project status, with assessment undertaken by external experts selected by the European Commission. Applications were assessed by at least four individual experts whose collective expertise covers technical, financial, and ESG-related aspects, as well as the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources.

Source: Vulcan Energy Resources and Eramet

Carlo Cariaga

See Full Bio