Arverne Group, a French industrial company specialized in the production of renewable underground resources, reaches a new milestone by launching construction of the Direct Geothermal Lithium Extraction (DLE) demonstration plant for its project in Alsace.
Located in the Bas-Rhin region of France, this demonstrator will play a key role in assessing lithium resources, as well as the technical and economic performance of the innovative DLE technology in real conditions. It will validate the process for extracting lithium from geothermal brines in the Rhine basin, optimizing yield, selectivity and environmental impact.
Initiated in 2024 with studies and pre-orders, the construction of the demonstration plant is supported by BPI France1, a project financed by the Government as part of France 2030 and by the European Union – Next Generation EU as part of the France Relance plan2.
The equipment has been designed in collaboration with DG SKID, a recognized expert in this field, following the pilot phase carried out by Lithium de France3 in the laboratories of Equinor in Norway, a long-standing partner of the Group and co-shareholder of Lithium de France. The demonstration plant will be installed in Northern Alsace, on the first geothermal doublet, whose work is scheduled to start in the coming months, subject to official authorization for drilling.
Pierre Brossollet, founder and Chairman & CEO of Arverne Group, stated: “The construction of the geothermal lithium extraction demonstration plant marks a key milestone in the pre-industrial phase of our strategic project. We are pursuing our roadmap to reach, by 2031, an annual production capacity of 4 TWh of geothermal heat and 27,000 tonnes of geothermal lithium, a critical metal in the energy transition, meeting the growing needs of the electric mobility and energy storage markets.”
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