CEZ will decide on lithium by the end of 2023, and is still...

CEZ will decide on lithium by the end of 2023, and is still negotiating the gigafactory in Prunérov

Energy company CEZ wants to decide by the end of next year whether it will use lithium reserves industrially. The results of the currently prepared study will be key to this. In an interview with CTK, CEZ financial director Martin Novák said this today. The company is also still negotiating the battery factory project at the site of the power plant in Prunérov in Ústeck, according to Novák, there are more possible investors.

"We are now investigating the real feasibility of industrial implementation," Novák said about the use of lithium. In the study, the company wants to test whether it is able to use lithium in an industrial way. According to Novák, the decision on whether CEZ will continue with the project and move to the actual implementation phase could be made by the end of 2023. According to estimates, the Czech Republic has about three percent of the world's lithium resources, the vast majority in Cínovec and a small amount in the Slavkovské les.

According to Novák, CEZ is also still negotiating with possible investors about the project of a factory for the production of batteries for electric cars, the so-called gigafactory, on the site of the Prunérov I lignite power plant, which is now being demolished. "It's still in play. There are many investors who revolve around the gigafactory," noted Novák. According to him, there can be more battery factories in the Czech Republic, because the location of the country is favorable for this. However, he did not name a specific candidate.