GREEN LITHIUM APPOINTS LEADING LAW FIRM ALLEN & OVERY
London, United Kingdom – 19th April 2024
Green Lithium has today announced that it has appointed leading global international law firm Allen & Overy as sponsor’s counsel on the fundraising process that will underpin construction and commissioning of the UK’s first large-scale lithium refinery at PD Ports in Teesside, UK. This partnership highlights Allen & Overy’s position as a leader and pioneer in battery financing advisory. Allen & Overy’s appointment reflects Green Lithium’s progress on its overall programme of works which will culminate in the delivery of a vital green-infrastructure asset for the UK, one which will begin to meet the urgent needs of the battery manufacturing and automotive sectors within the UK and the EU.
Building on recent fundraising and project success
Green Lithium has, to date, raised over £14m through a combination of private capital and UK Government investment, including via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Cumulatively the private capital rounds raised nearly 3x their target amounts, demonstrating the appetite for high-quality and well-managed projects in the sector. Green Lithium is using this funding to complete critical work in its development phase, during which it will complete its front-end engineering design (FEED) work to take it into its construction phase in 2025.
So far the company has used its funds to deliver on key programme milestones, including: completing engineering studies and pilot-scale test works alongside engineering consultant Metso; appointing key suppliers including Worley, Zenito and WSP; commissioning an independent environment life cycle assessment (LCA) which confirmed material CO2 footprint reduction opportunities versus current market participants; receiving independent assurance of its capex programme to AACE standard; completing a feasibility study on its 1,250 tonne output first commercial-scale plant; and obtaining outline UK Planning Permission for its 50,000 tonne output full-scale plant in Teesside.
Supporting the UK economy, backed by UK Government support
Having received previous UK Government investment from the ATF, Green Lithium will work with its funding advisers to unlock further governmental support. At a June 2023 event encouraging investment into the North of England, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praised the progress of Green Lithium’s Teesside project, which is clearly aligned to critical national objectives. Further, in June 2023, Sunak and US President Joe Biden announced the Atlantic Declaration, which seeks to unlock US Inflation Reduction Act benefits for UK companies.
Construction of the refinery will help drive the UK’s levelling up agenda as well as supporting local and regional development. Development of the facility will drive significant growth and investment into the local area, creating over 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and 250 full-time, green, local and highly-skilled jobs once in operation.
Securing European supply of crucial transition chemicals
The refinery will provide annual production of c.50,000 tonnes of low-carbon, battery-grade lithium chemicals that will help meet Europe’s growing demand. Green Lithium’s product will go into the supply chain for lithium-ion batteries, energy storage, grid stabilisation and EV batteries. For example, the forecast level of annual production will enable the production of over 1 million EVs in a European market producing over 15 million by 2030.
Currently, 89% of the globe’s lithium is produced in East Asia, with domestic demand expected to outstrip its production output by 2030. As such, the UK’s and EU’s reliance on international sources for their refined lithium chemical imports is creating uncertainty over security of supply, price, and volume. These factors underline the reasons why the UK Government made lithium a key part of its Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022 and Critical Minerals Refresh in 2023.
“The electric and battery revolutions are fundamental to reducing the carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change. By building our refinery, we will accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and sustainable energy storage through the increased supply of low-carbon, battery-grade lithium chemicals. Fulfilling this vision requires the right partners and sound financial and legal management, so the appointment Allen & Overy represents a major milestone for us.”
“The A&O team are privileged to have been appointed as sponsor’s counsel to Green Lithium, supporting them on their overall programme to deliver vital green infrastructure for the UK. Green Lithium provide crucial security of supply to safeguard the UK and EU’s automotive and battery manufacturing industries at a pivotal time for clean energy investment and deployment. We look forward to partnering with them on this journey.”
Notes to editors
For Green Lithium media enquiries or further information on its development phase and construction project finance funding rounds, please contact:
Green Lithium’s Communications Team
E: communications@greenlithium.co.uk
For Allen & Overy media enquiries, please contact:
Sarah Ballard, External Communications
E: sarah.ballard@allenovery.com
About Allen & Overy
Allen & Overy means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings. Allen & Overy LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC306763. Allen & Overy (Holdings) Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 07462870. Allen & Overy LLP and Allen & Overy (Holdings) Limited are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales.
The term partner is used to refer to a member of Allen & Overy LLP or a director of Allen & Overy (Holdings) Limited or, in either case, an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications or an individual with equivalent status in one of Allen & Overy LLP’s affiliated undertakings. A list of the members of Allen & Overy LLP and of the non-members who are designated as partners, and a list of the directors of Allen & Overy (Holdings) Limited, is open to inspection at our registered office at One Bishops Square, London E1 6AD.
Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with approximately 5,800 people, including some 590 partners, working in more than 40 offices worldwide. A current list of Allen & Overy offices is available at allenovery.com/locations.
https://www.allenovery.com/About Green Lithium
Green Lithium Refining Limited (Green Lithium) is an innovative mineral processing company with plans to build and operate a large-scale lithium refinery in the Teesside, United Kingdom, and provide high-purity lithium chemicals to the UK and EU markets. The company will harness industry-leading process technology enabling clean, low-carbon processing of high volumes of hard-rock, unrefined lithium mineral spodumene concentrate.
At present, the battery-metal supply chain is dominated by East Asia. There is no refining capability in Europe despite a significant market opportunity. Working with key strategic partners to address the need to improve the European battery-metal supply chain, Green Lithium will support the net-zero ambitions of society to transition to the future green economy.
For more information, please visit: https://greenlithium.co.uk/
