2024.02.15
LG Energy Solution partners with Australian supplier to chase IRA subsidy
BY SHIN HA-NEELG,
Korea JoongAng Daily - Energy Solution signed a one-year battery material
supply deal with an Australian lithium supplier, a move to enhance its response
to a U.S. subsidy program aimed at barring battery materials sourced from
China.
The battery maker
said Wednesday that it had signed a supply contract with Wesfarmers Chemicals,
Energy & Fertilisers (WesCEF), an Australian lithium producer under
Wesfarmers, to procure spodumene concentrate, which is feedstock for lithium
extraction.
In signing the deal,
WesCEF agreed to supply 85,000 tons of spodumene concentrate to LG Energy
Solution this year, which amounts to 11,000 tons of lithium hydroxide and
battery cells that can power 270,000 high-performance EVs with a range of more
than 500 kilometers (311 miles) per single charge.
The value of the
deal has not been disclosed.
The two companies
are already discussing a possible extension of the supply deal, according to LG
Energy Solution.
Lithium produced by
WesCEF qualifies for the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentive program.
Under the tightened IRA, which took effect in 2024, an eligible vehicle may not
contain any battery components “manufactured or assembled by” a “foreign entity
of concern” in order to qualify for up to $7,500 in tax credits.
LG Energy Solution
previously signed a five-year contract with WesCEF in September 2022 for 50,000
tons of lithium hydroxide to be produced at the Mount Holland Lithium Project
from 2026 to 2030.
Covalent Lithium, a
joint venture of Wesfarmers and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) has
been developing and operating the Western Australian Mount Holland Lithium
Project since 2019. The Mount Holland site will begin producing lithium
hydroxide in 2025.
To mitigate possible
supply chain risks, LG Energy Solution acquired a 7.9 percent stake in
Australia’s lithium supplier, Green Technology Metals, and signed a five-year
supply deal for 25 percent of the spodumene concentrate produced at Green
Technology Metals’ Seymour project in Canada.