Geothermal Engineering Limited (GEL) plans a £43m (US$57.6m) lithium extraction plant in Cornwall, backed by a provisional offer of nearly £10m (US$13.4m) from the UK government's DRIVE35 programme. First output is due in 2029 at roughly 1,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate a year, drawn from geothermal brine.

The government said that volume is enough for more than 180,000 electric car batteries. It also said the site could eventually scale to tens of thousands of tonnes, although that figure is an aspiration rather than a confirmed capacity plan.

For UK battery makers, the appeal is import substitution. Most lithium reaching British cell plants today is refined in China. A domestic supply chain would shorten that loop and give OEMs with UK gigafactory ambitions a locally sourced feedstock — assuming GEL hits its production timeline and the chemistry meets cathode-maker specifications.

The offer is not yet money in the bank. Both the GEL award and an £18.3m (US$24.5m) DRIVE35 commitment to Tees Valley Lithium's planned Teesside refinery await due diligence. Until those checks conclude, both projects remain announced intentions, not funded programmes. Suppliers and tier-one buyers evaluating offtake from either site should treat current numbers as claims to verify against engineering and permitting progress.

GEL expects the Cornwall plant to create nearly 50 direct jobs, with around 80 more in its supply chain. The company positions the project as the seed of a broader UK lithium industry built on Cornwall's geothermal brine, which offers lithium extraction with geothermal heat as a by-product.

Dr Ryan Law, Chief Executive of GEL, said: "Lithium is fundamental to the technologies underpinning the automotive sector's transition to zero-emission vehicles. At GEL, we are at the forefront of establishing a new UK lithium industry, demonstrating how Cornwall's geothermal brine can provide a reliable and sustainable source of this critical mineral. We believe the UK has an important opportunity to develop the resources, technology and expertise needed to establish a domestic lithium supply, giving the country greater control over an increasingly important raw material."

The context matters for automakers committing to UK production. Battery-grade lithium carbonate is a base input for LFP and mid-nickel chemistries, and European cell projects have repeatedly stalled on raw material sourcing. A 1,500-tonne annual stream is modest against projected UK cell demand, but the government's suggestion that the site could reach tens of thousands of tonnes would put it in the range relevant to gigafactory-scale offtake.

The pairing with Teesside signals a two-node strategy: extraction in Cornwall, refining in the North East. Both depend on due diligence clearing, private capital closing the gap beyond government support, and construction starting on schedule to hit the 2029 output date.

What to watch next: the outcome of due diligence on both DRIVE35 awards, GEL's final investment decision on the £43m build, and whether the Cornwall site secures offtake agreements with UK cell makers before first production in 2029.