Portuguese Lifthium is part of the largest European consortium...

Portuguese Lifthium is part of the largest European consortium to develop electric batteries

The company owned by the José de Mello Group and Bondalti is the only Portuguese with a green lithium conversion project in the EuBaTin consortium.


Vítor Rodrigues Oliveira

January 22, 2024 at 6:07 pm


Lifthium Energy, a company owned by the José de Mello Group and Bondalti, announced on Monday that it has just joined the Important Project of European Interest - European Battery Innovation (IPCEI EuBaTin), being the only Portuguese company with a large-scale production project of the so-called green lithium to become a member of this European consortium, it said in a statement.

"This IPCEI is fundamental for the realisation of the objectives of the European Union in matters as crucial as transition and energy sovereignty. Being the only Portuguese company with a lithium conversion project in this consortium is, at the same time, a great responsibility and an added motivation to continue working with the objective of being a world reference in green lithium refining," said Duarte Braga, CEO of Lifthium (pictured).

With a planned investment of 1.2 billion euros, by 2030 Lifthium intends to have two lithium refining plants in operation with a refining capacity of 50,000 tons, with the aim of supplying lithium hydroxide to more than two million cars per year.

The company's inclusion in this project at EU level arose "following the invitation of the Ministry of Economy and the State Secretariat for Energy and Climate", which led Lifthium to participate in the "demanding IPCEI competition in 2023, and its application was approved on January 19".

The consortium where the company is the only Portuguese integrates companies from Germany, Belgium, Finland, France and Italy, to jointly develop "projects inserted in the value chain of electric batteries". In the case of Lifthium, it "acts in the aspect of raw materials and advanced materials".

The technology that will be used by Lifthium, "which consists of the refining of lithium through electrolysis technology, was instrumental in integrating the IPCEI EuBaTin," can be read in the same statement. The company emphasises that the process that will be "entirely fuelled by renewable energy, replacing conventional methods with a greater carbon footprint".

Lifthium says that, with this technology, "it intends to become a pioneer, worldwide, in the use of electrolysis for the refining of lithium and in the use of precursor materials from recycling". The goal, says the company, is also to allow the reduction of the extraction of natural resources.

The company says that the use of electrolysis to obtain green lithium will allow Lifthium to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the refining process by more than 50% by 2030 (compared to current industry standards), "ensuring the sustainability of the value chain and combatting waste in industrial production, in order to reduce the environmental footprint of the industry".

Lifthium was created in 2023 by the José de Mello Group and Bondalti, who identified the potential of green lithium refining. The company wants to dedicate itself to the production of "sustainable" lithium hydroxide through electrolysis, a chemical process that converts electrical energy into chemical energy, through an electric current, in this case obtained from renewable sources (and hence called "green"). The electrolysis process is widely used in industry to obtain chemical elements (such as aluminum and lithium) and gases (such as hydrogen).

Currently, Lifthium already has the project for the first lithium refining plant in the licensing phase. By 2030, there will be three factories: one in development and two in operation.

With regard to lithium, Lifthium uses two distinct technologies: refining of lithium chloride through the adaptation of electrolysis technology, and this process is powered by electricity obtained from renewable sources; and refining from the rock of spodium, which is transformed into lithium hydroxide.

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