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The first lithium processing plant in Europe will appear in England. The UK government has granted permission to the British company Green Lithium to build a lithium processing plant in Teesside (England) to meet the needs of British and European automakers, euronews reports.

The light metal lithium is a key component for the production of electric vehicle batteries. Therefore, the demand for it has increased dramatically in recent years, as the world community doubles the pace of transition to renewable energy sources. According to experts, by 2030, up to 60% of new car sales will come from cars with a lithium-ion battery. For example, the production of a Tesla Model S car battery requires about 12 kg of lithium.

Today, car manufacturers depend on lithium suppliers from East Asia. China in this list occupies a dominant position in the global supply chain of batteries for electric vehicles: it accounts for 79% of the world's capacity for the production of lithium-ion batteries.

The British plant will start operating in 2027 and is expected to produce 50,000 tons of lithium annually, which, according to the company, is enough to provide one million electric cars with batteries. At the same time, the installation will also reduce the carbon footprint from the production and further processing of lithium by 80%, the report says.

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