The idea is simple: high temperature, lithium-rich brine from a reservoir deep within the Earth is pumped to the surface, heat is removed from the brine and used to drive a turbine to produce electricity, and lithium is extracted from the brine to produce lithium chemical products like lithium hydroxide using advanced direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.
The brine is then re-injected elsewhere into the large reservoir where it is re-heated. A number of these resources exist around the world including the Salton Sea in California, USA, and the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany. Below is a schematic of a geothermal lithium plant using a combined cycle-type system for electricity production.
A number of developers are currently working on building geothermal-lithium plants in the Salton Sea including greenfield play Controlled Thermal Resources. Others have expressed interest in integrating DLE into existing geothermal plants including EnergySource, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and Ormat Nevada, however they are famously secretive about their plans.
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Ormat Nevada will be exhibiting at the GRC Annual Meeting & Expo from 15-18 September, and EnergySource, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Controlled Thermal Resources are sponsors and will be present at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Southern California, USA.
In addition, there will be a panel discussion on "Accelerating Geothermal Lithium Extraction Technology" on Monday afternoon at the GRC Annual Meeting & Expo.
