Vulcan Energy has announced its in-house drilling company Vercana has begun activities to set up the V20 drilling rig at the Schleidberg drilling site near Landau, Germany.
This step is part of Vulcan’s combined project to produce climate-neutral lithium and renewable energy from deep geothermal energy. The construction of the V20 drilling rig follows the successful completion of key infrastructure work such as the construction of the Schleidberg drilling site, the establishment of the crew camp and the development of the access road.
Once the rig has been constructed, routine commissioning and testing procedures will follow to ensure safe and efficient operation. Drilling will commence from Q1 2025, subject to the successful commissioning of the rig. After the financing of the first project is complete, Vercana will begin installing the second electric drilling rig V10 at the planned Trappelberg drilling site.
Vulcan is currently implementing the first phases of its ‘Lionheart’ project in the Landau region, where the combined production of climate-neutral lithium and renewable energy will provide green district heating for households in the region. Also, Vulcan is aiming to produce around 24,000 tons of climate-neutral lithium hydroxide monohydrate annually for the automotive industry in Germany. This amount will be sufficient enough to produce 500,000 electric vehicle batteries per year.
Managing Director and CEO Cris Moreno, said, “The construction of the V20 drilling rig is not only an important milestone for our Lionheart project, but also an important step on the way to establishing a sustainable and domestic supply chain for lithium. With two fully electric and modern drilling rigs and an experienced team, our in-house drilling company Vercana is excellently equipped to safely implement the deep geothermal drilling for the production of renewable energy and lithium here in the Upper Rhine Graben in the coming years.”