Vulcan Energy Resources Limited (Vulcan; ASX: VUL, FSE: VUL, the Company) is aiming to become the world's first integrated lithium chemicals and renewable energy producer with net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Vulcan's unique Zero Carbon Lithium Project aims to produce both renewable geothermal energy and lithium hydroxide for electric vehicle batteries from the same deep brine source in the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany.
Highlights
- Vulcan and MVV Energie AG (MVV) have executed a binding purchase agreement for 240 gigawatt hours per year of renewable heat.
- The 20-year, long-term agreement commences in 2025 and includes the supply of a minimum of 240,000MWh per year to a maximum of 350,000MWh per year to households in Mannheim, outside of Frankfurt, Germany.
- MVV, the largest municipal energy supplier in Germany, generates an annual revenue of 4.1 billion and employs more than 6,500 people. The energy provider is a valuable community asset, with the City of Mannheim owning 50.10 % of the company1.
- The heat will be supplied from Vulcan's planned geothermal wells in the area surrounding the City of Mannheim. Heat will be transferred via heating grids and a series of underground pipes that deliver hot water or steam to buildings in the local community.
- The agreement is in line with MVV's strategy to become climate neutral by 2040 and then one of the first energy companies in Germany to be climate positive.
- Vulcan is developing its Mannheim licence as part of a planned larger Phase 2 of the Zero Carbon Lithium Project.
Vulcan's Managing Director, Dr Francis Wedin commented: "Vulcan is committed to playing a leading role in Germany's "Wärmewende", or heat transition as the country looks to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. This agreement represents a real and immediate step taken by a German energy utility to achieve energy security whilst not compromising on climate goals.
"We believe that Geothermal renewable energy on a mass scale, combined with lithium extraction from the same deep geothermal source, can and will play an important part in achieving Europe and Germany's energy security and independence. We are proud to partner with MVV, a leader in German energy supply, dedicated to making a lasting and sustainable contribution to the local community through the provision of renewable energy and heat. Our binding offtake agreement for regional geothermal energy positions MVV to deliver secure, sustainable, economical and environmentally friendly heating for its industrial, commercial and private household customers. Vulcan intends to build several further distributed geothermal renewable energy plants across the Upper Rhine Valley region and we are in discussions with other regional communities regarding additional heat offtake agreements."
1 https://www.mvv.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Investoren/en/geschaeftsjahr_2021/Berichte/MVV_Geschaeftsbericht_GJ_2021_engl.pdf
Mannheim is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, with a 2020 population of over 300,000 inhabitants. The city is the cultural and economic centre of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, Germany's seventh-largest metropolitan region with nearly 2.4 million inhabitants and over 900,000 employees. Apart from MVV, the city also hosts a number of other prominent companies, some with factories, including Daimler AG, Hoffmann-La Roche, ABB, IBM, Alstom, BASF and Siemens, among others.
About MVV
With around 6,500 employees and annual sales of around Euro 4.1 billion, MVV is one of Germany's leading energy companies. MVV's activities focus on providing a reliable, economical and environmentally- friendly supply of energy to their industrial, commercial and private household customers. Here, they cover all stages of the energy value chain: from energy generation, energy trading and energy distribution to operating distribution grids through to our sales activities and environmental energy and energy-related service businesses. They are also investing in future grid capability, modernising generation plants and innovative green technologies.
MVV are pioneers of the energy turnaround and have committed to a strategic course which will make them climate neutral by 2040 and, as one of the first energy companies in Germany, climate positive from then on. MVV are consistently promoting the heat turnaround, the electricity turnaround and the associated expansion in renewable energies, as well as green products and solutions for our customers. As certified by the international "Science Based Targets initiative" (SBTi), MVV's climate targets are consistent with the 1.5-degree trajectory. According to the prestigious rating agency ISS, they are also one of the world's four best energy companies when it comes to sustainability.
MVV is a company in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. The MVV Group has operations worldwide. MVV will invest a further Euro 3 billion in the years ahead and thus uphold their contribution to the successful implementation of the energy turnaround.
