INTERVIEW RAMÓN JIMÉNEZ SERRANOCEO Extremadura New Energies

"The polls reveal a growing support for our industrial project"

With the exploration permit for the lithium mine already granted, what are the next steps to continue with your project?

The truth is that we are complying with the road map that we had set ourselves from the beginning and that we have discussed on several occasions. At the moment we are incorporating into the project the comments and suggestions to the starting document, which we presented at the end of the year, and which the Junta de Extremadura has just sent us. Once incorporated, we will present the final project to the Board and request the operating permit, so that the environmental assessment procedures are activated.

The surveys show a change of opinion about the lithium mine among citizens. What is the status of the matter right now?

Yes, the latest survey conducted by Celeste-TEL - with 2,000 people consulted in the city of Cáceres - reflects a growing support for our industrial project, something that I think is a consequence of the effort we have made to respond to the concerns of Cáceres society (100% underground extraction, some of green energy and wastewater, green hydrogen plant...). The result is that today seven out of ten people from Cáceres are convinced that the implementation of the integrated industrial lithium processing project promoted by Extremadura New Energies in Cáceres will bring benefits to both the city and the entire autonomous community of Extremadura, and at the same time the initial opposition is being reduced. It is evident that all this is a consequence of the effort made by the company to put on the table a totally new project, which is a reference throughout Europe for its innovation and for its sustainable characteristics.

Extremadura New Energies is supporting a multitude of initiatives in the city, from young brothers to the local basketball team itself. Some understand this strategy as a "buying of wills." What do you say to those who think that way?

Well, that responds to the ignorance of the current business models. It must be thought that for many years now, all the large companies in our country have taken another step in corporate social responsibility policies, and that happens by being much more connected with citizens and, above all, by opening lines that allow part of the company's funds to serve to improve local society. And that's what we're doing. We are currently analyzing the projects that have been presented to the Foundation, and the truth is that there are very interesting ideas that we study with a lot of love, let's see how far we can go this year. But let people be clear that our idea is to be here for many years, and to continue working and collaborating with as many local agents as we can. That is an inalienable goal.

There is an opinion that the mine they intend to launch will deplete the water and that its activity will be polluting. Does that correspond to reality?

It's funny, because if you see who they are the ones who say those things, it is very clear that they are the ones who don't know the project because they didn't want us to explain it to them. I have sat down with a lot of people in the last year, and when I explain the new project in detail, everyone recognizes that it is very difficult to improve it even more. And that's the reality. In the case of water, we have already made it clear: we will use wastewater from the treatment plant that we will manage in a closed circuit, and it will be much less water than those who oppose the project say, among other things because they are based on what others do and not on our data. And the same with pollution. An innovative plant has been designed with the aim of having 'zero emissions', green hydrogen will be used as fuel and machinery and electric vehicles, as well as a lithium extraction process that does not need sulfuric acid. That is reality, and the rest are stories that some are invented to try to generate confusion and fear. Therefore, I want to make it clear that our doors are open for anyone who wants to sit with us so that we can explain the project in detail and clarify any questions you may have. You can be for or against, but at least with real information and data.

-Do you think that the Iberian Center for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE) will make the region a benchmark in the world of energy?

Extremadura has everything to become a global benchmark within the new energy sector that is being created: competitive renewable energy, raw materials such as Lithium that are fundamental in the new energy transformation, projects like ours that set the value chain in the region leaving wealth and added value here, ... and a center like the CIIAE, which has great professionals and that will also have the opportunity to be able to This ability to be able to put into practice the research carried out in the CIIAE, through agreements such as the one we have signed, is a differential fact and a catalyst for new advances and developments to crystallize around the energy storage industry, making Extremadura the global center of the new ecosystem that is being generated around Lithium.

He has stated that in Europe they consider the project to be a benchmark as a green and sustainable industry. What institutions or companies have been interested in him?

Well, look, just a few days ago, a day focused on the 'Competitiveness of the European battery industry in a changing world' was held in Brussels. And there were, among others, Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission; Kerstin Jorna, director general of Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission; and Hildegard Bentele, MEP and member of the industry, environment and development committees of the European Parliament. And in that forum, our project was highlighted as an example of green and sustainable mining. Europe is very aware of our project, and the Commission positively values the progress that is being made and the technological and sustainability innovations that we have included in the project.

Will we become self-sufficient in terms of energy in the region?

Sure. We have everything to be self-sufficient: the sun, the lithium, the transformation of it, thanks among others to projects like ours, to allow that energy of the sun to be stored and we can consume it at night or on rainy days. I have no doubt that this is going to be the case, but as we have said before, we can be a global benchmark and become an example of things well done in a sustainable way.