Galp and NorthVolt begin lithium venture

The Portuguese petroleum and gas company Galp and Swedish lithium battery company NorthVolt have appointed Manuel de Sousa Martins as the CEO of the companies’ lithium joint-venture Aurora Lithium.

Aurora Lithium is developing an advanced lithium conversion unit in Setúbal. The information was made public in a communiqué that also outlined that Sousa Martins had been the CEO of cement, aggregate and mortar giant Grupo Secil, having “built up a vast experience in managing large industrial projects, but also has a profound knowledge of the region” where Secil and Aurora are based.
The Aurora conversion unit will be the most sustainable in Europe, with a startup annual production capacity of between 28,000 and 35,00 tonnes of battery grade lithium hydroxide — a critical material for the industry of lithium ion batteries.
NorthVolt and Galp expect operations to start by the end of 2025, and commercial operations from 2026 “expecting to benefit from the ‘early-movers status’ from the European batteries market, which should expand significantly over this decade so that Europe can continue to be a relevant actor in some of its more strategic industries such as car manufacturing industry”.