Wrapup 1: Europe set for two new gigafactories as it lures battery makers

Microvast Holdings

12/05/2023 13:55

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      Northvolt could invest 3-5 bln euros in plant - sources
    

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      Around half a billion euro subsidies pending approval -
sources
    

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      Europe, U.S. jostling for green industrial investments
    

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      Northvolt may build two plants in parallel - spokesperson
    

  
    By Supantha Mukherjee and Victoria Waldersee
       STOCKHOLM/BERLIN, May 12 (Reuters) - Two electric
vehicle battery makers plan to spend around 10 billion euros
($11 billion) on factories in Europe, they said on Friday, a big
win in the region's subsidy race with the U.S.
    Both plants will start construction in 2026, employ
thousands of people and supply batteries to European car makers.
    Sweden's Northvolt said it is set to pick Heide in northern
Germany for its factory as long as subsidies are approved, after
months of worry that it would opt for an investment in North
America over Europe, while Taiwan's ProLogium announced a plant
in the French city of Dunkirk.
    Europe, home to carmakers such as Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  and
BMW  BMWG.DE , has been trying to lower dependency on Asian
countries for batteries that will power green electric cars. 
    Northvolt, alongside Volkswagen, is the furthest ahead among
just a handful of European players paving the way for a
home-grown battery industry, with a large chunk of planned
capacity in Europe to be owned by Asian players.
    The plant by Taiwan's ProLogium would be its first overseas
car battery factory.
    Both Germany and France had to sweeten the subsidy pot after
the United States last year unveiled major tax subsidies to cut
carbon emissions to boost domestic manufacturing, giving the
battery makers an attractive alternative.
    The subsidies for Northvolt, estimated to be around half a
billion euros, would be the first provided by Germany from
Europe's new 'Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework',
adopted in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expanded
this year to support green transition projects.
    The subsidies still need to be approved by the European
Commission. 
    A second plant could also be constructed in parallel
elsewhere, a Northvolt spokesperson said, indicating the
decision to build in Germany did not exclude the possibility of
a further plant in North America.
    Foreign and domestic companies have invested in Germany to
feed its growing EV industry. CATL  300750.SZ , which has been
expanding rapidly outside China, is ramping up production of its
plant near Erfurt in Germany and BASF  BASFn.DE  is building a
battery materials site in Schwarzheide, eastern Germany.
    U.S. Microvast  MVST.O , meanwhile, already built a factory
in Ludwigsfelde, south of Berlin.
    For ProLogium, French President Emmanuel Macron lobbied for
the factory to beat out other contestants like Germany and the
Netherlands, offering deal sweeteners and competitive power
prices, executives from the Taiwanese company said.

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Battery maker Northvolt in talks to hire IPO banks -sources   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N34W19B
Northvolt to build its third battery gigaplant in northern
Germany     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VH4DQ
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 (Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Supantha Mukherjee, Andreas
Rinke; Additional reporting by Gilles Guillaume in Paris and
Andreas Rinke in Berlin
Editing by Matt Scuffham, Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((Victoria.Waldersee@thomsonreuters.com;))