Industry and Synergies

Lithium Valley

What is it?

Lithium Valley is a catch-all name that has been applied to the emergence of the new energy materials industry that is centred on the Kwinana Industrial Area (KIA). It is now recognised and referred to by the European Union and the United States.

KIC continues to receive national and international interest about Lithium Valley from companies looking to enter the battery materials supply chain (secondary processing through to battery manufacture), and this interest is intensifying rapidly.  The State Government has created the policy direction for the industry through the production of its Future Battery Industry Strategy.

This new surge of industrial interest is underpinned by the announcements of three major lithium hydroxide refineries, two of which are located in the KIA. Further public announcements are in the pipeline.

The delivery side of the State’s Strategy will need to be rapid. There is only a short window of time in which it can be influential. The wave is arriving, and it is imperative that the various public service departments that are engaged in the numerous aspects of land allocation, freight handling, and approvals processes move expeditiously and efficiently through their various processes. Failure to do so will see opportunities for WA to host these value-adding industries lost to destinations abroad. Capturing these industries will diversify WA’s economy by placing a new economic foundation stone under its economy, one that will be based on value adding, as opposed to shipping out the State’s raw materials.

Reports

INTERNATIONAL NEIGHBOURS CONNECTING GLOBALLY

Nationally, and locally In Western Australia, the lithium value chain has been recognised as a future substantial industry platform for Australia. There are several contemporary reports available to support this position on the world stage.

This is evidenced by the numerous downstream industry proponents have shown interest in having a presence in Lithium Valley. These include companies that will produce cobalt sulphate, manganese sulphate, graphite, graphine, nickel sulphate, high purity alumina, and of course lithium hydroxide. There is interest being shown by battery cell manufacturers.

KIC has provided valuable information to these proponents about what areas of land is available, where it is located, which existing companies located within the industrial area can provide essential input chemicals, and information about what by-product synergies may be available.

Of course, these synergies are what the KIA is world renown for, and the quest for information about these synergy opportunities is often what draws prospective Lithium Valley entrants to engage in conversations with KIC. Companies considering their locational decisions are well advised to reach out to KIC to take advantage of the freely available information.

In addition to the companies in the Lithium value chain, several renewable energy production companies are showing deep interest in positioning themselves in the KIA, and more broadly in the Western Trade Coast industrial suburb of Rockingham Industry Zone.

The European Union is pressing its electric vehicle battery suppliers (and by default the companies participating in their entire supply chain) to be able to prove 100% use of renewable energy sources in the production of their material components. This will become a standard feature of this supply chain eventually.

This is where the diversification of the sources of energy for Lithium Valley participants is becoming critical. Companies that are progressing projects within the WTC, delivering energy into the KIA grid (or behind the grid) include solar, wind, geothermal, waste to energy, and green hydrogen sources. All will all be participants alongside natural gas as the energy sources to drive this new energy storage economy.

Get in touch with the KIC to find out more.