en.Wedoany.com Reported - Italian energy company Eni has announced the acquisition of a 25% stake in Black Giant SpA, a Chilean subsidiary of U.S. startup EnergyX, through a phased investment of $225 million. The company is developing a lithium project near the Salar de Punta Negra in northern Chile.

Black Giant SpA is a wholly owned subsidiary of EnergyX, in which Eni holds a minority stake through its corporate venture capital arm, Eni Next. EnergyX is developing direct lithium extraction technology, which the company claims enables a closed-loop system with full brine reinjection, thereby reducing water consumption associated with traditional evaporation pond-based lithium production.

The project is being built in two phases, targeting a full production capacity of 52,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent per year. Phase 1 includes Line 1 with a capacity of 7,500 tonnes per year, expected to commence production in 2028; Phase 2 will add more production lines, increasing capacity by 45,000 tonnes per year, with expected startup in 2030.

Eni will also receive a board seat at Black Giant and has the right to offtake up to 25% of total lithium carbonate equivalent production. Eni stated that this offtake will support its plans to build a Gigafactory in Brindisi, Italy, for the production of stationary lithium-ion batteries.

In September 2025, Eni and Seri Industrial announced that Eni's energy storage systems company had started construction of a manufacturing center in Brindisi for the production of over 8 GWh of lithium iron phosphate batteries per year.

Eni stated that the transaction supports its strategy of diversifying its supply chain and expanding into the critical minerals value chain.