Reasoned conclusion received for anode material plant

Epsilon Advanced Materials Oy and Finnish Battery Chemicals Oy, a project company owned by the Finnish Minerals Group, have received a reasoned conclusion on the EIA report concerning an anode material production project from the coordinating authority, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for South Ostrobothnia (ELY Centre).

According to the reasoned conclusion, the EIA report meets the content requirements set for it. The options examined in the EIA procedure have been deemed feasible from the perspective of environmental impact assessment.

Epsilon Advanced Materials Oy and Finnish Battery Chemicals Oy submitted the EIA report to the authority on 28 June 2024. Thereafter, it was presented at a public event. The coordinating authority also organised a public hearing on the report and gathered all the opinions and relevant statements.

In the EIA report, the companies proposed two alternative implementing options for the project. Option VE1a examined the establishment of an anode material plant in the GigaVaasa area with an annual production of 10,000 tonnes. Option VE1b considered the establishment of a plant in the GigaVaasa area with an annual production of 50,000 tonnes. The third option was not to build the plant at all.

The reasoned conclusion issued by the coordinating authority is a key document that will later be appended to the environmental permit application for the plant along with the EIA report.

The reasoned conclusion is on the ELY Centre’s website at www.ymparisto.fi.

Further information:

Timo Strengell, Senior Vice President, Battery Value Chain, Finnish Minerals Group
firstname.lastname(at)mineralsgroup.fi, tel. +358 40 738 4860

Sini Eskonniemi, Vice President, Innovation and Technology Development, Finnish Minerals Group
firstname.lastname(at)mineralsgroup.fi, tel. +358 40 753 5509

EIA report on Vaasa anode material plant has been submitted (8 August 2024)

Key terms:

Anode – the negative electrode in lithium-ion batteries, paired with cathode materials in a lithium-ion cell. The charging speed and the number of charge cycles of a battery is largely determined by the anode material.

The mission of Finnish Minerals Group is to responsibly maximise the value of Finnish minerals. We manage the State’s mining industry shareholdings and strive to develop the Finnish value chain of lithium-ion batteries. Through our work, we contribute to Europe moving towards electric transport and a more sustainable future. www.mineralsgroup.fi