Teesside: EV battery material businesses reveal jobs plans

The UK is due to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030

Two battery materials businesses have revealed plans to set up on Teesside to support the electric vehicles industry.

Green Lithium has been awarded a £600,000 government grant to build the UK's first merchant lithium refinery at Teesport, creating 250 long-term jobs.

Meanwhile Altilium Metals has announced plans for a recycling plant.

It comes a week after Britishvolt, which wants to set up an electric vehicle battery factory in Blyth, Northumberland, avoided collapse.

On a visit to Middlesbrough, Business Secretary Grant Shapps said Green Lithium was being backed by the government as part of growing "new, green industries across the UK".

He said: "The battery in your phone, the battery in a electric vehicle that you may drive one day all require lithium to be refined. The company behind this is going to do that in a very green way using hydrogen and other power sources.

"That means that from this single plant we will be able to supply up to 7% of Europe's entire requirement for lithium."

The metal is an essential component of batteries and the facility would provide materials for use in the electric vehicle, renewable energy and consumer technology supply chains, the government said.

As well as 250 long-term jobs, it is expected to create more than 1,000 in the construction industry.

The government added that 89% of the world's lithium processing currently takes place in East Asia, with no refineries in Europe.

The recycling site operated by Altilium Metals would turn battery waste from more than 150,000 electric vehicles into "cathode active material" - a key component of new batteries.

It said it would bring in up to 200 jobs by 2025, with hundreds more during its construction.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said he was "delighted" it was planning to come to Teesside, although an announcement on the business's location is not expected until early 2023.