POSCO Holdings Inc., the investment and holding company of South Korea’s steel giant POSCO, has completed the construction of a lithium hydroxide plant – the first of its kind in the country – amid a growing trend of resource nationalism worldwide.

The plant, located at the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, is part of the POSCO Group’s strategic plan to establish a battery material value chain ranging from securing and processing battery raw materials like lithium and nickel to recycling used batteries.

The lithium hydroxide plant with an annual production capacity of 21,500 tons will be operated by POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution Co., a joint venture between POSCO and Australia’s lithium miner Pilbara Minerals Ltd., launched in 2021.

Our client, Veolia, via its subsidiary Veolia Water Technologies, has signed a contract with POSCO Lithium Solution to design and deliver an integrated conversion system featuring its high purification HPD crystallization technology, a key process used in the refining of battery material salts required for the manufacture of advanced electric batteries. With an annual production capacity of 25,000 tons, the facility will supply enough quality lithium to design around 600,000 electric vehicle batteries.

Lithium is an essential component in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies. Lithium carbonate is used in batteries for small electronic devices, such as laptops and tech products, while lithium hydroxide is used in high-density, high-capacity batteries such as the ones found in electric vehicles. For this project, Veolia’s HPD crystallization technology is applied to convert lithium carbonate to lithium hydroxide.