Important Step to Reduce Import Dependency in Lithium

# Important Step to Reduce Lithium Import Dependency A significant step has been taken to reduce Turkey's import dependency in lithium, the key raw material for battery systems in electric vehicles, as well as charging equipment for mobile phones, tablets and computers. Long-running R&D efforts have yielded positive results, and geothermal energy, which holds the highest share of base power among clean energy sources, will also be used in lithium production. Geothermal Energy Association (JED) Board Chair Ali Kındap made the following remarks on the subject: "In Turkey, our lithium requirement, particularly for the domestic automobile TOGG, as well as domestically produced mobile phones, tablets and computer charging equipment, stands at approximately 1,500 tons. The amount of lithium we have discovered from geothermal sources is 25,000 tons. Therefore, for the next 20 years, we will be able to meet the country's lithium needs, particularly for electric vehicle production, from the fields we have discovered." Kındap emphasized that lithium obtained from geothermal energy production facilities will make a major contribution to Turkey's domestic electric vehicle initiative and domestic energy storage technologies, and noted that compared to global lithium potential in geothermal sources, Turkey is quite rich. Kındap added that domestic lithium production could also create an export market in this field.   JED Board Chair Ali Kındap continued as follows: "Geothermal mining is one of the most important sectors developing recently. There are examples in different countries around the world. In recent years, with the growing use of electric vehicles worldwide, lithium is one of the most sought-after minerals. Particularly in the automotive sector, this mineral has an important place in electric vehicle battery systems and in the charging equipment of electronic devices. We know that each vehicle requires approximately 6–7 kilograms of lithium. We can say that we aim to produce 250,000 electric vehicles in the coming period. Turkey's lithium requirement for electric vehicle battery systems and electronic device charging equipment is at the level of 1,500 tons annually. The material value of this need at today's rates amounts to approximately USD 100 million per year. We conducted research as an association on how this need would be met through domestic production in Turkey. We noticed that a significant amount of lithium is present in our geothermal sources. We gathered with specialized companies and conducted laboratory tests related to this. We saw that such technology could be produced. Based on the positive results of the tests, we established a unit. We observed that we could extract lithium from our geothermal waters and moved on to the field testing phase to produce it economically. Today, in the fields we have discovered in İzmir, Aydın, Manisa, Denizli and Çanakkale, we see very significant potential. There is no other source in Turkey through which lithium can be produced; it can only be obtained from geothermal sources. The material value of the amount we currently envisage reaches USD 2 billion. While drawing attention to the importance of eliminating external dependency in lithium, I would like to convey this good news through you."