Tesla seeking tax breaks for ‘first of its kind’ lithium refinery on Texas Gulf Coast

Elon Musk’s Tesla is considering the Gulf Coast of Texas as a location for a lithium refinery to boost the automaker's battery-production efforts, newly publicized documents show.

The Austin-based electric-car maker told officials it is considering locations in Texas and Louisiana for a “battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining facility" it said would be the “first of its kind in North America," according to an application sent to a South Texas school district on Aug. 22 and filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office.

The move would further expand the company's operations into Texas, where it moved its headquarters from California in late 2021.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The proposed facility, which Tesla said could be located anywhere with access to the Gulf Coast shipping channel, would process raw ore material for battery production. The final product would then be “packaged and shipped by truck and rail to various Tesla battery manufacturing sites supporting the necessary supply chain for large-scale and electric vehicle batteries," according to the application.

"The process Tesla will use is innovative and designed to consume less hazardous reagents and create usable byproducts compared to the conventional process," the application reads.

The facility would employ more than 160 employees and be constructed south of the South Texas city of Robstown on U.S. Highway 77 and County Road 28, according to the application. If this site is selected, Tesla projects early construction could begin in the fourth quarter of 2022, and commercial operations would begin by the fourth quarter of 2024.

The proposal is in its infancy. In the application, Tesla said it is "still evaluating the feasibility of this project" and that "only very preliminary development activities have begun."

Tesla does not own the land the proposed facility would be built on, according to Nueces County Appraisal District records. However, the application states the company has entered agreements with the plot's current landowners to acquire the land if the site is selected.

In the application, Tesla is vying for tax breaks from the Robstown Independent School District. Whether the district grants Tesla the tax breaks will be critical during the company's location selection process. The lack of these tax breaks would make siting the project in Texas "less attractive" due to the current economic environment.

"The domestic and global industrial gas market is very competitive," the application reads. "In the current capital-constrained environment, the economics of each project are challenged against each other and only the best will have a chance to happen."

Included in the filing is an Aug. 22 letter from Robstown ISD Superintendent Jose Moreno wherein he said the district would consider establishing a reinvestment zone to accommodate the proposed facility.

Moreno could not immediately be reached for comment.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Tesla seeking tax breaks for lithium refinery on Texas Gulf Coast