Occidental and BHE Renewables have formed a joint venture for the demonstration and deployment of TerraLithium’s direct lithium extraction (DLE) and associated technologies to extract and commercially produce high-purity lithium compounds from geothermal brine.
Occidental subsidiary TerraLithium has patented DLE technologies that have the potential to process any lithium-containing brine into high-purity lithium. BHE Renewables operates 10 geothermal power plants in California’s Imperial Valley (Salton Sea), which process 50,000 gal/min of brine to produce 345 Mw of energy. The joint venture has begun a project at BHE Renewables’ Imperial Valley geothermal plant to demonstrate the feasibility of using the TerraLithium DLE technology to produce lithium in an environmentally safe manner, the companies said in a joint release June 6.
Bringing together Occidental's knowledge of managing and processing brine in its oil and gas and chemicals businesses and BHE Renewables’ knowledge of geothermal operations could advance "a more sustainable form of lithium production," said Richard Jackson, president, US Onshore Resources and Carbon Management, Operations at Occidental.
If successful, BHE Renewables plans to build, own, and operate commercial lithium production plants in California’s Imperial Valley. The technology could then be licensed for development of commercial lithium production plants outside the area, the companies said.
Lithium production, demand
Commenting on the JV, TD Cowen analysts said in in a note June 6 that "BHE targets 90,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of lithium carbonate equivalent production from the brines, with timelines likely being towards the end of the decade in our view, if successful. By that point, BHE's lithium production would aggregate to 3% of total demand." As a reference, the analysts pointed to "the most active DLE development in the US," Standard Lithium's operations in the Arkansas Smackover, which "targets an initial plant that processes 3,000 gal/min of brine for about 6,000 tpy of LCE production, suggesting that lithium concentration at BHE's Salton Sea assets is fairly analogous."
A study by the US Department of Energy last year "assumed 198 ppm at the Salton Sea, which is an encouraging start, but it is fair to recognize that extraction of lithium from geothermal brines comes with several unique challenges that include high levels of associated minerals and heat," TD Cowen analysts continued. For Occidental, this new joint venture is a positive "as BHE appears to bear most of the capital risk for OXY to prove its DLE concept," the analysts said.
The International Renewable Energy Agency expects battery lithium demand to increase tenfold over 2020–2030, in line with battery demand growth.