Lithium Harvest Plans Alberta Geothermal Power and Lithium Project

Lithium Harvest’s Alberta Geothermal Project Could Combine Renewable Power and Domestic Lithium Production

Lithium Harvest Holding A/S has signed a letter of intent with an unnamed geothermal development partner to establish a joint venture for an integrated geothermal power and lithium production facility in Alberta, Canada.

At full nameplate capacity, the proposed project is expected to produce approximately 28,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually while generating 0.67 TWh of renewable electricity each year. The development would use a single geothermal resource to supply both baseload power and lithium-bearing brine for direct lithium extraction and refining. 

A Dual-Output Geothermal Development

The proposed Alberta facility reflects a growing effort to extract more value from geothermal resources than electricity generation alone.

Traditional geothermal power projects produce electricity by bringing hot underground fluids to the surface. Depending on resource temperature and chemistry, the same fluids may also contain commercially valuable minerals, including lithium. An integrated facility can therefore combine energy production with mineral recovery, potentially creating multiple revenue streams from one subsurface resource.

Lithium Harvest’s planned project is designed around this model. Geothermal heat would be used to generate renewable electricity, while geothermal brine would provide the feedstock for lithium extraction and refining. The company says the development will combine water treatment, proprietary direct lithium extraction technology, and refining systems intended to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate. 

The concept is strategically significant because the project would target two markets at the same time:

- Renewable baseload electricity.

- Lithium carbonate for batteries and energy storage.

This dual-market structure could improve resource utilisation and provide greater commercial flexibility than a standalone geothermal power plant or lithium project. However, the approach also creates additional technical and financial complexity because the geothermal, power-generation, water-treatment, extraction, and refining systems must operate as one integrated facility.

Project Targets 28,500 Tonnes of Lithium

According to the announced project estimates, the Alberta facility would eventually produce approximately 28,500 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate. It would also generate about 0.67 TWh of renewable electricity annually once it reaches full nameplate capacity. 

The lithium output would place the planned facility among the larger proposed geothermal-lithium projects currently under development. Lithium carbonate is a widely traded chemical used in the production of lithium-ion batteries. It can be converted into cathode materials for batteries used in electric vehicles, stationary energy-storage systems, consumer electronics, and other applications.

The project’s production target is especially notable because lithium demand is being driven by several overlapping trends. Electric-vehicle deployment is expanding in many markets, while grid-scale battery storage is becoming increasingly important as countries add variable renewable generation. Data-centre growth is also increasing demand for reliable electricity and, indirectly, for storage technologies that can support increasingly complex power systems.

Lithium Harvest Chairman Sune Mathiesen said the agreement is intended to support the supply of both reliable power and lithium for the energy transition. He also described the proposed facility as potentially one of the largest projects of its kind once completed. 

The company has not yet provided all the details needed to assess the project’s commercial scale. Key information still to be confirmed includes the geothermal resource temperature, flow rate, lithium concentration, wellfield configuration, recovery rate, power-generation technology, capital cost, operating cost, construction schedule, and final ownership structure.

How Direct Lithium Extraction Fits

Direct lithium extraction, commonly referred to as DLE, is designed to selectively remove lithium from brine without relying on the large evaporation ponds traditionally associated with some lithium projects.

In a DLE process, geothermal brine is brought to the surface and passed through a treatment system containing a selective extraction medium. Depending on the technology, the process may use adsorbents, ion-exchange materials, membranes, solvents, or other engineered separation systems. Lithium is captured from the brine, released into a concentrated solution, and then processed into a lithium compound such as lithium carbonate.

The remaining brine may be treated and reinjected into the geothermal reservoir, although the final design will depend on the project’s chemistry, reservoir characteristics, environmental requirements, and regulatory approvals.

DLE can offer several potential advantages:

- It may require less surface land than large evaporation ponds.

- It can potentially operate in regions with unsuitable evaporation conditions.

- It may allow faster and more continuous lithium production.

- It can be integrated with geothermal energy and brine-management systems.

- It may support reinjection of treated geothermal fluids.

However, DLE remains highly dependent on the properties of each brine. A process that performs well in one geothermal reservoir may not be suitable for another. High concentrations of calcium, magnesium, silica, iron, or other elements can complicate extraction and increase chemical consumption. Scaling, corrosion, membrane fouling, and changes in brine composition can also affect plant performance.

For that reason, the announced resource-validation and technical-validation workstreams will be central to the project’s progress. The partners must demonstrate not only that lithium exists in the Alberta brine, but also that it can be extracted consistently at commercial recovery rates.

Geothermal Power Adds a Second Revenue Stream

The project’s planned electricity output of 0.67 TWh per year would provide a second source of revenue alongside lithium production. 

Geothermal power has an important feature that distinguishes it from many other renewable technologies: it can provide electricity continuously, subject to resource and plant availability. Solar and wind projects generate low-carbon electricity but vary with weather and time of day. Geothermal facilities can operate as baseload or dispatchable resources when properly designed and managed.

In Alberta, reliable renewable generation could complement a power system that is undergoing significant change. The province has historically relied heavily on thermal generation, while demand is being influenced by industrial activity, electrification, population growth, and data-centre development.

The planned electricity production could potentially be sold through power-purchase agreements, bilateral contracts, merchant-market arrangements, or dedicated supply agreements with industrial customers. The final commercial structure will depend on Alberta’s electricity market conditions, project permitting, grid-connection requirements, and the plant’s operating profile.

Power sales could also help offset some of the energy requirements of the lithium facility. DLE, water treatment, pumping, brine processing, and refining can all consume electricity. Integrating power generation and lithium processing may allow the project to supply part of its own energy demand while exporting surplus electricity to the grid.

The scale of the electricity output should not be confused with the lithium-production target. These are separate nameplate figures, and actual performance will depend on geothermal flow, reservoir pressure, well productivity, plant efficiency, maintenance, and the energy intensity of the extraction and refining process.

Phased Construction Strategy

Lithium Harvest says the Alberta development is planned in two phases, with full nameplate capacity reached through staged construction and production ramp-up. 

A phased approach can reduce the amount of capital committed before the resource and process have been fully demonstrated. The first phase may be used to validate the geothermal reservoir, establish initial lithium-recovery performance, and confirm the reliability of the integrated process. Later phases could then expand production after technical and commercial risks have been reduced.

Phased development may also support more flexible financing. Rather than funding the entire project at once, the partners could seek investment tied to specific milestones, such as:

- Completion of resource confirmation.

- Successful pilot-scale lithium extraction.

- Completion of front-end engineering and design.

- Receipt of environmental and operating permits.

- Securing of power and lithium offtake agreements.

- Completion of financing for initial construction.

This structure can be attractive to investors because it links additional capital deployment to measurable progress. It may also allow the partners to adjust the project design as new geological, engineering, or market information becomes available.

At the same time, phased construction can create disadvantages. Smaller initial facilities may have higher unit costs than a fully built project, while connecting multiple phases can increase engineering and commissioning requirements. The partners will need to design the first phase so that it can operate efficiently and expand without major retrofits.

Alberta’s Strategic Position

Alberta has several characteristics that could support an integrated geothermal and lithium project.

The province has an established energy-services industry, a large industrial workforce, extensive subsurface expertise, and infrastructure developed through decades of oil and gas activity. These capabilities could be relevant to geothermal drilling, well completion, reservoir management, pipeline construction, process engineering, and plant operations.

Existing energy-sector expertise may also help reduce some development risks. Geothermal projects require specialised knowledge of drilling, high-temperature fluids, well integrity, reservoir behaviour, and surface facilities. Alberta’s oil and gas supply chain could potentially provide contractors, equipment, engineering services, and technical personnel familiar with complex subsurface operations.

The province’s industrial base could further support domestic lithium processing. A project that produces battery-grade lithium carbonate in Canada would not simply extract a raw mineral; it would contribute to a more integrated supply chain connecting resource development, chemical processing, energy production, and battery materials.

However, Alberta’s suitability will depend on the specific location and resource. The project must still demonstrate commercial geothermal temperatures and flow rates, sufficient lithium concentration, reliable extraction performance, access to electricity infrastructure, water-management compatibility, and an acceptable environmental profile.

Potential Emissions Benefits

Lithium Harvest estimates that the project could avoid up to 933,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year at full nameplate capacity. 

This figure is a project estimate rather than a guaranteed outcome. The actual emissions reduction will depend on the final facility design, operating performance, the electricity displaced, and the reference scenarios used for comparison.

The potential emissions benefits could come from several sources. Renewable geothermal electricity may displace power generated from higher-emission sources. Domestic lithium production could reduce the need to transport lithium compounds over long distances, although the total effect would depend on the full supply chain. The environmental performance of the DLE process would also depend on chemical use, water treatment, reinjection, waste management, construction emissions, and the energy required for refining.

A credible emissions assessment would need to include:

- Well drilling and field-development emissions.

- Plant construction and equipment manufacturing.

- Electricity used by pumping, extraction, and refining.

- Chemical production and transport.

- Brine treatment and reinjection.

- Product transport.

- Electricity and lithium production displaced by the project.

The partners will likely need a detailed life-cycle assessment before the emissions claim can be independently evaluated. Such an assessment could become important for project financing, regulatory approval, customer contracts, and access to clean-energy or low-carbon-product markets.

The Main Technical Challenges

The proposed project combines several technologies that each carry development risks. Integrating them increases the importance of system design and operational coordination.

Geothermal resource risk

The first challenge is confirming that the geothermal reservoir can supply sufficient hot brine over the project’s operating life. Resource uncertainty is one of the most significant risks in geothermal development. Temperature, permeability, flow rate, pressure, chemistry, and long-term reservoir response all affect project economics.

A resource may have high temperatures but insufficient flow. Another may produce adequate flow but contain brine that creates severe scaling or corrosion. The project will need a wellfield design capable of sustaining production while supporting reinjection and reservoir pressure management.

Lithium-recovery risk

Lithium concentration alone does not determine commercial viability. The partners must assess the complete brine chemistry and demonstrate that the DLE system can operate consistently.

Important performance indicators include lithium recovery rate, selectivity, reagent consumption, process cycle time, water requirements, waste generation, and the quality of the intermediate lithium solution. The system must also maintain performance despite changes in brine composition and operating conditions.

Power-plant integration

Geothermal electricity generation and lithium extraction may compete for the same geothermal fluid. If too much heat or brine is directed toward one process, the output of the other could be affected.

The final design will need to balance electricity production, lithium recovery, reinjection temperature, pressure management, and plant energy demand. Heat cascading could potentially improve efficiency by using geothermal fluids at several stages, but this would require careful thermal and process integration.

Financing and construction

The partners must also secure financing for a project that combines resource risk, technology risk, construction risk, and commodity-price exposure.

Lithium prices can be cyclical, while geothermal projects typically require substantial upfront investment before revenue begins. Lenders and investors may therefore seek strong technical validation, long-term offtake agreements, insurance, guarantees, and experienced project-development partners.

 Next Steps for the Joint Venture

The letter of intent is an early-stage agreement rather than a final investment decision. The partners plan to advance the project through four principal workstreams:

- Finalising joint-venture arrangements and the integrated development plan.

- Confirming the geothermal resource and lithium-process performance through technical evaluation and validation.

- Advancing engineering, permitting, and commercial arrangements.

- Securing the financing required for construction. 

These steps will determine whether the proposed concept can move from an announced opportunity to a bankable project.

The joint-venture structure will be particularly important. The geothermal partner is expected to contribute geothermal development expertise, while Lithium Harvest will contribute its brine-to-battery-grade lithium platform, including water treatment, DLE, and refining capabilities. 

The parties will need to agree on ownership, capital contributions, technology responsibilities, operating control, revenue sharing, intellectual-property rights, and liability for cost overruns or underperformance. They will also need to establish how future expansion phases will be funded and whether new investors or strategic partners will be admitted.

Permitting will be another major milestone. The project may require approvals related to geothermal wells, water use, brine handling, reinjection, mineral processing, emissions, land use, electricity generation, waste management, and grid connection. Indigenous consultation and community engagement will also be important components of the development process.

Broader Implications for Geothermal Development

The Alberta proposal illustrates how geothermal developers are increasingly looking beyond electricity-only business models.

Geothermal resources can potentially support several products, including electricity, district heating, industrial heat, greenhouse heating, cooling, and mineral extraction. Adding these outputs may improve the economic value of a resource, particularly where electricity prices alone are not sufficient to support drilling and plant construction.

Lithium extraction is especially relevant because geothermal brines may provide an alternative source of battery minerals without the large land requirements associated with some conventional mining and evaporation-based operations. Yet geothermal-lithium projects should not be treated as automatically low risk or automatically low impact. Their success depends on reservoir quality, extraction technology, energy consumption, chemical management, reinjection performance, and long-term operating reliability.

If Lithium Harvest and its partner can validate the Alberta resource and demonstrate consistent commercial production, the project could become an important example of integrated geothermal development in North America. It could also encourage other developers to evaluate whether existing geothermal prospects contain recoverable minerals alongside their energy potential.

For now, the project remains at the development and validation stage. Its significance will ultimately depend on whether the partners can convert the announced targets,28,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 0.67 TWh of renewable electricity, and potential emissions avoidance of up to 933,000 tonnes annually,into reliable, financeable, and permitted commercial operations. 

Source: Energy Global