Arverne Group plans to begin drilling for a geothermal and lithium project in France by the summer.

Arverne Group, through its subsidiary Lithium de France, has announced the commencement of preliminary work for geothermal drilling operations as part of its geothermal heat and lithium project. The drilling site is situated in Schwabwiller, located in the Bas-Rhin area of Alsace, France.

The initial on-site work entails civil engineering tasks. Geothermal well drilling is set to begin after summer and will continue with the construction of the heat power plant and installation of a demonstration plant to evaluate lithium resources and the effectiveness of the new Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, once the required authorizations are secured.

According to Pierre Brossollet, Founder and CEO of Arverne Group, these initial efforts embody the company's goal of making geothermal energy a viable solution for significant decarbonization challenges and are a significant step toward increasing energy sovereignty for France.

The geothermal heat and lithium project in Alsace aims to achieve an annual production capacity of 27,000 tons of lithium carbonate and 2.2 TWh of geothermal heat by 2031. Over the past few years, Lithium de France has conducted exploration campaigns in Northern Alsace to support this project. Additionally, Arverne has formed partnerships with technology suppliers such as Tenaris and SLB.