Posted on 24 Mar 2023
Umicore and PowerCo announced on Thursday they’ve established a battery materials joint venture in Brussels after receiving EU regulatory clearance, Kallanish reports.
The partnership unveiled last September will produce cathode active materials (CAM) and precursor materials in Europe to meet a large part of PowerCo’s future demand in the region. The large-scale production is expected to cover manufacturing of 160 gigawatt-hours cell capacity per year, which is enough to build 2.2 million BEVs.
In a joint statement, the companies say they will be “important contributors to the green mobility transition and the further development of a local, sustainable and fully integrated European battery supply chain.”
PowerCo, the battery unit of the Volkswagen Group, has started construction on two gigafactories in Europe – one in Germany and one in Spain. The German carmaker had planned six gigafactories in the region, covering the supply of 240 GWh of cells by 2030.
However, the companies have recently announced a new 40 GWh gigafactory in Canada and said the European expansion will depend on “the right conditions.” To support the Canadian project, PowerCo and Umicore have also signed a CAM supply agreement, set to kick off in 2030.
The name of the JV and the location of its plant in Europe will be announced “in due course.” The companies say they are still searching for a site.
Source:Kallanish
