Enel X and MIDAC partner on Italy’s first battery recycling plant
Enel Group’s Enel X and Italian automotive storage manufacturer MIDAC are collaborating in R&D to build Italy’s first major recycling plant for lithium batteries.
The partnership falls under the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) batteries project.
The collaborators’ goal is to help develop a European lithium battery supply chain – covering Electric Vehicles (EVs) as well as industrial and stationary systems – that is both sustainable and based on a circular approach.
As part of the project, Enel X and MIDAC will be conducting R&D activities in their own fields of expertise to build the plant through a circular model, aiming to transform spent battery packs back into raw materials, which can then used to make new cells.
This will result in less mineral extraction, reducing costs and environmental impact of the process.
It is estimated that, in Europe, a total of around 200,000 tons of lithium batteries will have to be recycled by 2030.
“We are proud to have partnered for this challenging and strategic project aimed at establishing a European battery supply chain,” said Francesco Venturini, CEO of Enel X.
“Thanks to this project, we will be able to open up new markets and new growth opportunities for companies…making it possible for Europe to achieve a critically important goal, which is to become more independent when it comes to sourcing raw materials.”
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Enel X will oversee researching and developing cutting-edge technology that automatically dismantles lithium batteries, as well as their recycling process.
MIDAC, on the other hand, will be developing the entire lithium recycling process, at first on a pilot scale and then by building an industrial plant with an annual capacity of at least 10,000 tons.
“We are currently developing and investing in state-of-the-art recycling processes so that we can support the Italian and European lithium battery supply chain and actively contribute to the energy transition,” added Filippo Girardi, president of MIDAC.
“We will start with recycling and we will then move on to cells. Our plants will be located in Italy so that we can strengthen our presence in the Italian battery industry, providing employment opportunities and promoting growth all over the country.”
The battery recycling plant is part of an IPCEI announced in January 2021 under the second tranche of European IPCEI funding, with Enel X and MIDAC’s partnership the latest in announcements to drive Italy’s EV battery supply chain.
The initiative, implemented in partnership with other Italian and European companies and research institutes, including ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), is part of the European IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) batteries project.
