Environmental and community support for geothermal project

VUL today reported that it has received preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval for its Taro license, paving the way for VUL to drill six wells for geothermal energy and lithium.

The State Office for Geology and Mining determined that “the environmental impact of the planned wells, taking into account their size, extent and intensity of action, cannot be assessed as significant. There is therefore no requirement to carry out a full environmental impact assessment for the wells”.

VUL has also confirmed today that community support for geothermal production is growing across Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley region, with the Upper Rhine Council having resolved in favour of supporting deep geothermal projects in Ortenau. This follows an earlier vote of support for geothermal energy production in the area from the City Council of Landau.

These endorsements address some of the Stakeholder Risk as outlined in our 2022 VUL Investment Memo.

Lastly, VUL has provided an update on progress at its Demo Plant at the Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project in Germany.

VUL says that initial commissioning of the Sorption Demo Plant is now planned to commence in late-Q4. This is behind schedule due to previously flagged, unprecedented global supply chain issues with sourcing certain pieces of equipment. However, the commissioning of ‘LiLy’ — VUL’s lithium hydroxide production Demo Plant — remains on track to start commissioning in late Q1 2023.