Rüsselsheim plant
Overview
Car manufacturing in Rüsselsheim has a long history dating back to 1899, when the first Opel was built. Today, Opel and Citroën models are still assembled in Rüsselsheim, and the town remains the location of the headquarters of Opel, now belonging to Stellantis.
As part of its efforts to decarbonise the plant’s energy mix and become carbon neutral by 2038 Stellantis has turned to geothermal energy. This renewable energy source has great potential in the Upper Rhine Valley which stretches south of Rüsselsheim along the Rhine. To assess the feasibility of using geothermal heat, the car manufacturer has signed an agreement with Vulcan Energy in early 2023. If this initial assessment phase is successful, a deep geothermal plant will be developed to supply renewable heat.
The Rüsselsheim plant will also be a place to test the possibilities of lithium extraction from geothermal brines in the northern part of the Upper Rhine Valley after the successful operation of a lithium extraction pilot plant by Vulcan in Insheim, further south along the Rhine. Thus, in addition to supplying renewable heat, the geothermal plant in Rüsselsheim could produce lithium without any carbon being emitted which can be used for electric vehicle batteries further helping to avoid CO2 emissions. An offtake agreement for lithium hydroxide mined in Europe is already in place between Stellantis and Vulcan.
Boris Rhein, Minister President of Hesse said, “This is positive news for Hesse because it shows that in our state, climate protection and state-of-the-art industrial production through innovative ideas are perfectly compatible.”
Later in 2023, a second agreement for a pre-feasibility study has been reached concerning the Stellantis plant in Mulhouse, France. There are already several geothermal plants for heating and electricity generation in operation in the Alsace region.
The plans for the Mulhouse project were welcomed by Franck Leroy, President of the Grand Est Region, who said, "Stellantis is a major industrial player in the automotive sector in the Grand Est. This is why the Region wanted to support the group in its transition to electric. With this strategic partnership, transformation to create the industry of the future and the fight against global warming are taking shape in our Region thanks to a rational exploitation of geothermal energy".