July 1, 2026
Critical Minerals Firm EVelution Energy LLC has announced the start of construction on the solar energy facility that will power its planned cobalt processing facility in Yuma County, Arizona.
The project represents a $450 million investment and will provide EVelution with 28 MW of solar energy over an area of 150 hectares, company officials say. The final site will be the first U.S. commercial-scale cobalt metal and cobalt sulfate processing facility powered entirely by renewable solar energy.
“Today’s groundbreaking marks another important milestone in our efforts to rebuild America’s domestic processing capacity for critical minerals, and we are proud to take that next step here in Yuma County,” said Navaid Alam, president and CEO of EVelution Energy. “The (steel) piles going into the ground mark the beginning of the renewable energy system that will power the first cobalt metal and cobalt sulfate processing facility in the United States.”
Excess energy goes into battery storage, and when it becomes full, the excess energy goes into the local energy grid, the company says.
The eventual solar site will support thousands of panels that will power the facility, representatives say. Construction of the solar panels is expected to continue for the rest of this year and into 2027, and the cobalt processing plant is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2029, according to the company’s plans.
Building America’s Mineral Future
Once fully operational, the cobalt facility will be the first of this size in the US, with or without solar energy. The plant will process approximately 24,000 tons of cobalt hydroxide annually, which will be capable of producing up to 3,000 tons of alloy grade cobalt metal. Perhaps more importantly, the plant’s products will produce up to 20,000 tons of cobalt sulfate, a crucial component for EV batteries.
“This production is expected to meet approximately 40% of projected U.S. cobalt demand,” the company says, “supporting the U.S. aerospace, defense, EV battery and advanced manufacturing industries.”
All of this, according to EVelution representatives, is part of a broader strategy to strengthen U.S. domestic mineral supply chains. The company has also committed to using entirely domestic materials during the construction and operation of the plant, including U.S. steel for solar and battery storage construction.
Tags: Arizona, commercial, commercial and industrial, EV, EVelution Energy, project
