Saudi Arabia wants a bigger role in clean energy technologies. It is using mining and industrial projects to support Vision 2030 and reduce dependence on oil. This includes building an EV battery supply chain Saudi Arabia can control, from minerals in the ground to battery-grade chemicals.
Several announced targets show the scale of the plan. By 2030, the kingdom aims to produce 500,000 EVs a year. The government also uses the Future Minerals Forum to attract investors, and one year the event reported deals worth more than $28.5 billion.
Saudi Arabia is also highlighting its resource potential. One estimate says the country sits on about $2.5 trillion worth of minerals, including lithium, rare earths, zinc, and copper. The focus is not only on extraction. It is also about refining and making higher-value materials for batteries and motors.
Mining-to-Refining: What Is Being Built
EV Metals Group (EVM) says it is building integrated supply chains for high purity battery chemicals, linking upstream mining with midstream chemical refining. EVM plans a chemical refining plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supported by joint ventures and long-term offtake agreements. The company positions this as a “mine-to-refine” approach for rechargeable battery supply chains.
EVM’s flagship project is a Lithium Chemicals Plant (LCP) in Yanbu Industrial City, described as a project of national strategic importance delivering into Vision 2030. In its first stage, it is set to produce 25,000 tonnes per annum of battery grade Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate. A follow-on Stage 1B is planned to add 22,000 tonnes per annum of high purity Lithium Carbonate. EVM also states the project will create 4,000 positions during construction and sustain 400 permanent jobs during operation.
Upstream exploration is also moving. EVM reported completing an initial exploration programme at the Balthaga Lithium Project. The project is located 450 km east of Jeddah and includes 13 tenements covering about 1,200 km², with exploration licenses granted. A field team visited targets across the licensed area over seven days and collected 43 in-situ rock chip samples. Results were expected in Q3 2024, and EVM also submitted an additional 23 rock samples collected in 2022 for analysis.
Other national players are involved too. Saudi Aramco announced plans to form a joint venture with Maaden to explore and extract domestic lithium deposits, after reporting “promising lithium concentrations” in its oil and gas fields and saying commercial production could begin by 2027. A separate report described this Aramco-Ma’aden collaboration as aiming for a vertically integrated supply chain for EV battery materials, including evaluating potential sites for large-scale DLE operations and building an end-to-end chain that includes refining, processing, and battery manufacturing.
What does “EV battery supply chain Saudi Arabia” mean in practice?
What output is planned for EVM’s Lithium Chemicals Plant in Yanbu?
How many jobs does EVM say the Yanbu project will create?
What is happening at the Balthaga Lithium Project?
What is Saudi Arabia’s EV production target mentioned in the sources?
