TVL Secures £18.3m UK Government Support
Alkemy Capital Investments PLC
17 September 2026
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO. 596/2014 ("MAR") AS IN FORCE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
17 September 2026
Alkemy Capital Investments Plc
Tees Valley Lithium Secures £18.3 Million UK Government Support
Offer in Principle received for capital grant funding under the £4 billion DRIVE35 programme
Alkemy Capital Investments plc (“Alkemy”) (LSE: ALK), the 100% owner of Tees Valley Lithium Ltd (“TVL”), is pleased to announce that TVL has received an Offer in Principle for capital grant funding of up to £18.3 million under the UK Government’s DRIVE35 Automotive Transformation Fund (“ATF”) programme, delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (“BIST”) in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (“APC”), towards Phase 1 of TVL’s merchant lithium refinery at the Billingham Chemical Complex, Teesside. This offer remains subject to final approvals and TVL is working with BIST to complete the remaining due diligence and conditions required to access the funding.
Highlights
•Offer in Principle received for up to £18.3 million of non-dilutive capital grant funding towards the £185 million Phase 1 development, strengthening the project’s financing position.
•Phase 1 is expected to produce 25,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate, sufficient for more than 550,000 electric vehicles per year, scaling to 100,000+ tonnes per annum, resulting in one of Europe’s largest lithium refineries at full capacity.
•The project directly delivers on the UK Critical Minerals Strategy’s objective to build domestic supply chain resilience and security by growing the UK’s competitive advantage in midstream refining, with Phase 1 alone representing nearly half of the Strategy’s 2035 domestic lithium capacity ambition.
•Commercial foundations in place: binding offtake agreement with Glencore; process technology from Veolia, and feedstock agreement with Wogen Resources.
•Over 25 years the project is expected to contribute more than £2.1 billion to the UK economy, including approximately £1 billion in the Tees Valley, supporting more than 1,700 jobs across construction, the supply chain and operations.
Blair McDougall, Minister for Reindustrialisation, commented:
"This is a really encouraging milestone for Tees Valley Lithium and proves what's possible with this kind of British innovation and expertise. It shows the vast potential for refining and using critical minerals here in Britain to back our zero emission vehicle manufacturing for the future. Teesside has a proud industrial heritage, and companies like Tees Valley Lithium are helping write its next chapter. Our £4 billion DRIVE35 programme is backing businesses like this to grow, invest and help build the supply chains we need for the future as part of our Industrial Strategy."
Chris McDonald, MP for Stockton North, commented:
“This is a huge vote of confidence in Billingham, Teesside and Britain’s industrial future. I have supported the Tees Valley Lithium project since becoming MP and worked closely with the team as they have developed plans for what will be a major new lithium refining facility here in Billingham. As the government's industry minister last year, I developed and launched Britain's critical minerals strategy, that is securing investments like this in new materials processing and mining facilities.”
Paul Atherley, Chairman of Alkemy, commented:
“We are very grateful to BIST and the Advanced Propulsion Centre for their support for the establishment of the UK’s flagship lithium refinery in Teesside. Located in the heart of Teesside’s port and industrial cluster and drawing on the region’s extensive chemical engineering heritage this future facing refinery will be one of the largest in Europe and will position the UK at the forefront of the biggest energy transition in history.”
Vikki Jeckell, CEO of Tees Valley Lithium, commented:
"This grant is a statement of confidence in Teesside, and it is a confidence we share with partners around the world, among them Glencore and Veolia, who have already committed to what we are building here. The Critical Minerals Strategy set Britain the task of creating domestic lithium refining capacity, and TVL exists to deliver it: Phase 1 alone represents nearly half of the 2035 target. Our focus now is delivering first battery-grade production in the UK.”
Strategic Significance
Europe’s battery supply chain has attracted substantial investment in cell manufacturing while the midstream refining step, where lithium intermediates are converted into battery-grade chemicals, remains largely absent from the continent. TVL’s merchant refinery at Billingham addresses this gap directly, converting lithium from a diversified domestic and international supply base into battery-grade lithium hydroxide for the UK and European market, on a site with over a century of process-industry heritage, deep chemical-processing skills and access to Teesport.
The Offer in Principle is the latest in a sequence of independent validations of the project: a binding offtake agreement with Glencore, commercially validated processing technology in partnership with Veolia, independent validation of TVL as one of the lowest-cost lithium refining projects in Europe on both capital and operating cost, and now the completion of the DRIVE35 assessment process, culminating in the Government’s offer.
Chris McDonald, MP for Stockton North, further commented:
“This project has the potential to create a new generation of skilled jobs and apprenticeships, support businesses throughout our local supply chain and strengthen Britain’s critical minerals capability at a time when secure domestic supply chains are increasingly important.I will continue to support the project every step of the way - from the first steel going into the ground through to the day the plant is switched on. This is what reindustrialisation looks like: investment here, skills here, jobs here, and Teesside helping to strengthen Britain’s industrial competitiveness.”
About DRIVE35
DRIVE35(Driving Research & Investment in Vehicle Electrification)is a £4 billion programme of capital andR&Dfunding for the automotive industryto 2035. DRIVE35 is delivered by BIST in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre and Innovate UK as part of the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan and Critical Minerals Strategy.
Further information
For further information, please visit Alkemy’s website:www.alkemycapital.co.ukor TVL’s websitewww.teesvalleylithium.co.uk.
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ABOUT US
Alkemy Capital Investments plc: Alkemy is focused on the development of critical mineral infrastructure to support the global energy transition. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, TVL, Alkemy is leading the way in establishing Europe’s first independent lithium hydroxide refinery.
Tees Valley Lithium Limited: TVL is building an £185 million merchant lithium refinery in the Billingham chemical cluster Teesside which will refine high value domestic and international feedstock into 25,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium using Veolia’s commercially validated process technology - enough to support the production of 550,000 electrical vehicles.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward‐looking information. The statements are based on reasonable assumptions and expectations of management and Alkemy provides no assurance that actual events will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward‐looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Although Alkemy believes the expectations expressed in such forward‐looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. In addition, factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking information stated herein include changes in market conditions, changes in metal prices, general economic and political conditions, environmental risks, and community and non-governmental actions. Such factors will also affect whether Alkemy will ultimately receive the benefits anticipated pursuant to relevant agreements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the forward‐looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
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