Neo secures €126m grant from EU Innovation Fund ahead of permanent magnet scale-up
Neo Performance Metals has secured an EU Innovation Fund grant for up to €126-million, or $141-million.
The funding will support an expanded rare earth magnet value chain in Estonia, spanning separation, metallisation and magnet manufacturing, adding up to 3 000 t/y of permanent magnet manufacturing capacity.
One-third of this capacity will be allocated to offshore wind farms in the EU.
Neo started commercial production at its permanent magnet plant in Estonia in September at a Phase 1A nameplate capacity of 2 000 t/y of neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, with the EU Innovation Fund support helping to enable a Phase 1B expansion to 5 000 t/y.
The expansion is already being designed, with detailed engineering, facility layout planning, advanced equipment procurement and supply chain planning currently underway. Neo estimates the expansion project to cost €400-million and to take between two and three years to complete.
Neo targets longer-term production expansions to 20 000 t/y of permanent magnets, which would represent between 10% and 15% of the world’s projected rare earth permanent magnet market outside of China.
The company’s current operations include the Silmet rare earths separation plant in Sillamäe and a sintered permanent magnet plant in Narva – which are about 30 km apart.