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New Zealand’s Geoheat Breakthrough: Inside the 2026–2027 Action Plan to Scale Low-Carbon Heat Nationwide

New Zealand’s Geoheat Revolution: How Earth Sciences New Zealand and Ara Ake Are Reshaping the Future of Low-Carbon Heat New Zealand is quietly positioning itself at the forefront of one of the most underappreciated but transformative energy transitions in the world: the large-scale adoption of geoheat. While global attention often gravitates toward geothermal electricity, hydrogen, or solar megaprojects, a more immediate and highly practical revolution is unfolding beneath the surface—direct-use geothermal heat under 150°C, now being systematically developed through a coordinated national strategy. The recently released 2026–2027 Geoheat Action Plan marks a pivotal moment in this journey. Developed through a partnership between Earth Sciences New Zealand and Ara Ake, the country’s energy innovation centre, the plan represents a structured attempt to move geoheat from scattered pilot projects into a coordinated, scalable national system. It is not just a research document—it is a depl...
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Europe’s First Geothermal Lithium Revolution: EIB Injects €250 Million into Vulcan’s Zero-Carbon Lionheart Project

Europe Takes a Giant Leap Toward Lithium Independence: EIB Backs Vulcan Energy’s €2 Billion Lionheart Project with €250 Million




3 December 2025 – In a move that could reshape Europe’s battery and electric-vehicle future, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has just signed a landmark €250 million financing agreement with Australian-German company Vulcan Energy for Phase One of the Lionheart Project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley.

This isn’t just another mining project. It’s Europe’s first commercial-scale Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) operation that simultaneously produces battery-grade lithium and renewable geothermal heat and power – all with a net-zero carbon footprint.

Why this matters for Europe

Lithium is classified as both a critical and strategic raw material under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.  
Europe currently imports >95% of its battery-grade lithium, mostly from Australia, Chile and China.  
By 2030, the EU’s demand for lithium is expected to grow 12–18 times.  
Lionheart Phase One alone will cover roughly 12% of Europe’s projected 2030 lithium hydroxide demand – enough for approximately 500,000 electric vehicles per year.

What makes Lionheart different

Traditional lithium production (hard-rock mining in Australia or evaporation ponds in South America) is water-intensive, energy-heavy and leaves a large environmental footprint.

Vulcan’s “Zero Carbon Lithium” model flips the script:

1. Hot geothermal brine (already naturally heated to ~160–180 °C) is pumped from 3–4 km depth.  
2. Lithium is extracted using Vulcan’s proprietary VULSORB® adsorbent (Direct Lithium Extraction).  
3. The lithium-free brine is reinjected, creating a closed loop with virtually zero water consumption and no evaporation ponds.  
4. The geothermal energy is used to:  
   Power the entire lithium plant (mostly self-sufficient electricity)  
   Supply renewable district heating to the city of Landau and surrounding areas  
5. Result: battery-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) with one of the lowest CO₂ footprints in the world.

The technology has already been proven: since April 2024, Vulcan’s demonstration plants (LEOP and CLEOP) in Landau and Frankfurt-Höchst have been producing on-spec lithium chloride and battery-grade LHM from real geothermal brine.

Who is backing the €2 billion Phase One

This is one of the strongest public-private coalitions ever assembled for a European critical raw materials project:

€250 million direct loan from the European Investment Bank (under its Critical Raw Materials Strategic Initiative and TechEU)  
Syndicated commercial bank debt from ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, ING, KommunalKredit Austria, Natixis, OCBC, and Unicredit  
Export credit agency cover from Bpifrance (France), EDC (Canada), EFA (Australia), EIFO (Denmark), and SACE (Italy)  
€204 million in German federal grants (2025)  
Equity from the German government’s raw materials fund (via KfW), Siemens, Hochtief, and Demeter’s Climate Infrastructure Fund

As EIB Vice-President Nicola Beer put it:  
“Lionheart puts the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act into practice and reinforces Europe’s supply-chain resilience.”

Timeline

Commercial construction: ~2.5 years  
First production targeted for 2028  
Full Phase One capacity: 24,000 tonnes LHM/year

Beyond lithium: renewable heat for thousands of homes

While the world focuses on the lithium, the project is already supplying geothermal heat to EnergieSüdwest AG for Landau’s district heating network  quietly displacing fossil gas for space and water heating in real time.

A blueprint for the rest of the world

The Upper Rhine Valley hosts Europe’s largest known lithium resource in brine (on a lithium carbonate equivalent basis). If Phase One succeeds, Vulcan plans further phases that could make Europe one of the world’s leading producers of carbon-neutral lithium – and a major exporter of the technology itself.

In an era of geopolitical tension over critical minerals, Europe just sent a clear message: strategic autonomy doesn’t have to come at the expense of climate goals. With Lionheart, it can accelerate both.

This is what the European Green Deal looks like when it actually gets built.



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