Buenos Aires lithium battery exchange station

State company Y-TEC, the tech arm of YPF, will open the first lithium battery cell factory in September, in La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province. Another plant, five times bigger, will kick off in Santiago del Estero in 2024.

The plant will generate 15 megawatts per year, which means it will produce lithium batteries capable of powering 2500 households. The batteries are envisaged for use in rural areas. For example, there is already a Buenos Aires province-backed project to supply the Paulino-Berisso island, home to 70 families who are currently off the power grid.

Argentina currently holds 20% of global reserves at 20 million metric tonnes, with most brine deposits located in and around the tri-border area with Bolivia and Chile, also referred to as the 'lithium triangle'. Argentina's lithium carbonate production capacity has already tripled in the last two years.

In the case of lithium, Y-TEC signed a contract with American company Livent, which extracts the mineral in Catamarca and, for the first time, sold part of its production in Argentina. According to Salvarezza, for industrialization to grow in scale, part of the production ought to be sold on the local market.

Argentina's lithium carbonate production capacity has already tripled in the last two years. Around 85 projects are currently at various stages of development in northwestern Argentina, ranging from basic exploration to infrastructure building.

Argentina will almost certainly continue to facilitate the growth of the lithium industry by welcoming more foreign and local investments, opening up new mines and potentially developing partnerships with neighbours Chile and Bolivia. Local communities will more than likely attempt to challenge the expansion through various non-violent means.