Worley has announced that it has commenced work on the first lithium refinery in the UK, which will be built in Teesside by Green Lithium. Once operational, the plant is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium a year.  

Lithium is an essential material in battery manufacturing. However, Europe's current lithium-refining capacity in Europe doesn’t match the increasing demand for battery-grade lithium chemicals. According to the company, the Teeside plant will produce up to 6 per cent of Europe’s expected battery demand by 2030, providing enough of the material to produce one million EVs annually.

The new refinery is designed to supply low-carbon, battery-grade lithium chemicals to serve the growing European market for energy storage systems and electric vehicles (EVs) and in the process "facilitate decarbonisation objectives, green jobs and long-term economic prosperity".

Ross McPherson, senior vice president for chemicals...