As the lithium-ion battery market heats up, developers are seeing exciting opportunities to extract sought-after lithium from spent geothermal brine.
Lithium is commonly extracted from either hard rock via an energy-intensive roasting and leeching process, or from salty brines. The brine is laid out in pools where it evaporates, leaving behind lithium and other minerals. Though it is relatively low-cost, the evaporation process can take up to two years and it is difficult to get most of the lithium out of the brine.
In order to avoid this process, some developers have turned to the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, California, which sits on a massive geothermal resource. If developed, it could potentially unlock nearly 3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity. Developers have taken notice, and the Imperial Irrigation District has created a plan to develop 1.7 GW by 2032 - if they can get some financial backing. While it sounds like a no-brainer, the project faces several hurdles, including a lack of transmission and long permitting processes.