Daily Shorts: Albemarle scraps Liontown purchase, E.ON risks falling behind RE transition, and more

US lithium miner Albemarle withdrew its proposal to acquire Australia's Liontown Resources for A$6.6 billion, citing "growing complexities" over the deal. Following the announcement, Liontown said it was looking to raise funds for its Kathleen Valley lithium project, regarded as among the world's top five. The company's flagship is expected to start producing lithium by July next year, and Liontown has signed supply agreements with American carmakers Tesla and Ford Motor, as well as South Korean EV battery maker LG Energy. Last month, the company said it was in advanced discussions to obtain at least A$450 million.

Europe has work in America. US President Joe Biden is hosting European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel on Friday, and the EU is seeking an agreement on critical minerals such as cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese and nickel that would benefit suppliers based in the bloc. The two sides are also attempting to reconcile EU's carbon border tariff system with US subsidies designed to help transition the economy to clean energy sources.

The head of networks for E.ON, Europe's biggest electricity grid company, is seeking more money to integrate upcoming renewable energy capacity, largely because the transition to clean energy is happening faster than the company is adapting to it. E.ON's grid investment plans have been expanded each year for the last three years because connections for local, low voltage grids have been doubling every year, Thomas Koenig said. The German company is investing €26 billion till 2027 to overhaul its power grids to integrate RE assets and digitize operations. 

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo will seek China's help in renewable energy and infrastructure projects during an upcoming visit, a government minister has said. The partnership would be parallel to the Just Energy Transition Partnership, a $20 billion deal the islands nation has signed with group of countries led by Japan and the US to close coal power plants. Indonesia has pledged to reach net zero by 2060.