GUBEN (dpa-AFX) - In Guben, Brandenburg, Europe's first lithium hydroxide converter is to supply the raw material for electric car batteries from 2025. For the construction of its plant, the Canadian company Rock Tech has now received approval for an early start from the State Office for the Environment (LfU). This covers preparatory measures. For the mayor of Guben, Fred Mahro (CDU), this is a huge step forward. Among other things, Rock Tech had signed a supply contract for lithium with the car manufacturer Mercedes last October.

With the early approval by the approval authority LfU, Rock Tech is allowed to install 1 040 concrete piles into the ground. The first major work on site for the project is expected to begin in the next few weeks, Rock Tech announced. The piling work will involve testing the bearing capacity of the foundation soil, it said. A final building permit is pending. However, company spokesman Andre Mandel expressed confidence Thursday that it could come in the first quarter of the year.

The company is planning a plant in the city on the River Neisse, about two hours from Berlin, to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric cars. The basic material is also needed for energy storage systems. It is planned to produce 24,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide annually for batteries for 500,000 electric cars. Around 470 million euros are to be invested. According to the company, 170 jobs are to be created. In a first step, administrative buildings and laboratory are to be built.

"I am now waiting for the excavators," Mayor Mahro told dpa. In the meantime, he said, the city had done its "homework" and was preparing for the settlement, including providing the educational infrastructure and, with a view to influxes and workers, planning housing. "We've decelerated our deconstruction program, we're not tearing down as much in the city as we once planned," he said. City councilors also gave the green light to the education campus, which is in the planning stages, he said./na/DP/men