It's official: the first opens European gigafactory for electric batteries. stellantis, through a young joint venture founded in 2022, Automotive cell company (Acc) – held in equal shares with Mercedes-Benz e Total Energy -, today Tuesday 30 May it inaugurated its first gigafactory (of the three planned) for the production of batteries, with an impressive size of 34 hectares, in the north of France, exactly in Douvrin, on the outskirts of Lens.
“Here we are in the future. It is a great European project”, said the president of Stellantis, John Elkann, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the first of the three gigafactories that Acc will build in Europe. The second will be in Germany and the third in Italy, a Termoli, for a total investment of 7,3 billion euros, of which about 1,3 billion in public investments.
The news does not particularly warm the title which gains 0,43% at 11:50.
Stellantis: the Douvrin gigafactory
If the inauguration was today, production will have to wait for the summer. By the end of the year, the first batteries produced on these lines will begin to be marketed. Although a precise date has not yet been announced. In fact, it is not excluded that some adjustments are still needed to fine-tune the industrialization process. By 2024, the Stellantis plant is expected to produce no less than 13 GWh per year. This figure is expected to rise to 40 GWh per year from 2030, equal to the production of around 800.000 battery intended for all companies that are part of the jv. Over the same period, the plant's workforce is expected to grow from 600 to 2.000. The batteries produced in Douvrin will be based on the NMC technology (Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt), and will also be 95% recyclable, thanks to an innovative process developed by Stellantis.
France wants to reduce its dependence on China and plans to be self-sufficient in battery production by 2027.
The other gigafactories of Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies
The second is expected in Germany, in Kaiserslautern, next to the Opel plant, based on funding promised by the German government. It is expected to open in early 2025.
E Termoli? This is where things get more nebulous. We talk about the battery factory in Molise from time, and should be operational "from 2026 and will grow gradually until 2030, employing 1.800 people", the automotive giant announced last March when the Government resolved to co-finance the investment, but European authorization on state aid is still awaited.
The three gigafactories will have a combined annual production of 120 GWh by 2030, equivalent to approximately 2,5 million batteries for electric cars from Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz
The Fiom-Cgil protests begin: "We have zero investments"
"If the mountain does not go to Mohammed, Mohammed goes to the mountain," said the secretary of the Fiom-Cgil, Michele De Palma adding that "on June 2, Fiom will be in Paris-Poissy with a delegation of Stellantis workers from all the Italian plants to ask for a meeting with the management and schedule a discussion with the managing director, Carlos Tavares" . On Republic Day, Fiom will go to ask Stellantis for guarantees for employment, for better conditions and for investments in industrial transition.
