The EU Commission has included PCC Thorion GmbH’s battery materials project in its list of 47 strategically important raw materials projects that are to receive special support due to high public interest. PCC Thorion is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PCC SE. With its ProHiPerSi project, PCC Thorion is addressing the need to increase the performance of lithium-ion batteries while at the same time reducing dependence on graphite imports through the development of a novel silicon-based anode active material.
According to the EU Commission’s assessment, the project demonstrates significant strengths and contributes to the EU’s security of supply. The Commission also highlights the project’s solid technical foundation, the feasibility of large-scale implementation, and its sustainability.
Dr. Peter Wenzel, CEO of PCC SE, explains: “The designation of our battery material project by the EU Commission as a strategic raw material project underscores the economic and political relevance as well as the attractiveness of our project.”
Through the listing, PCC receives certain rights and enabling conditions, such as priority status under national law, facilitated permitting and authorizations, as well as accelerated implementations, coordinated financing and facilitation of offtake agreements.
The 47 projects identified by the EU Commission are the first critically relevant projects aligned to increasing raw material capacities in Europe. The goal is to strengthen the domestic extraction, recycling, processing, and substitution of critical raw materials. According to the Commission, the 47 projects designated as strategic represent an important milestone in the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), an EU law passed in May 2024 to secure and diversify the supply of critical raw materials.
