Total, through its affiliate Saft, and PSA with Opel, have announced their plan to develop EV battery manufacturing activity in Europe.
To that end, the partners intend to establish a joint venture known as Automotive Cell Company (ACC).
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The first phase of the project focuses on R&D, including building a pilot plant on the land of Saft’s Nersac facility. The plant is scheduled to start in mid-2021 and represents an investment of EUR200m (US$220m).
The project will generate around 200 jobs in France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine region to develop, qualify and commercially scale up lithium-ion batteries.
The first phase will trigger the investment decision for a large-scale production plant (8 GWh initially, rising to 24 GWh later) in the northern Hauts-de-France region, followed by a second one of equal capacity in Germany, in order to reach 48 GWh of combined capacity by 2030.
That would represent production of 1m batteries a year, or around 10-15% of the European market. Ultimately, nearly EUR5bn will be required to complete the programme.
Total and Groupe PSA acknowledge the support of French, German and European Union authorities for the project, expected to receive nearly EUR1.3bn in public funding during its development in the frame of the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) initiative authorised by the European Commission.
“In 2015, Total set an ambition to become the responsible energy major,” said Total chairman and CEO, Patrick Pouyanné. “With that in mind, we acquired Saft, a major battery maker, in 2016, primarily to develop energy storage to support the growth of intermittent renewable energies such as solar and wind.
“The fast-growing development of electric mobility offers Total, via Saft, another opportunity for growth and commitment to a decarbonised economy. With the support of French, German and European authorities, we will deploy our best expertise and technologies alongside our partner, PSA, to create a competitive European battery industry.”
The Automotive Cell Company (ACC) will be a 50-50 Saft and Groupe PSA/Opel joint venture for the pilot production line. During the commercial production phase, Saft’s share in ACC will decline to 33%.
European context:
In 2019, the European Union set binding targets to expand the sale of electric vehicles. The European market for automotive batteries is estimated to reach around 400 GWh in 2030, or 15 times current needs, corresponding to more than 7m electric vehicles.
The project’s implementation is contingent on securing the approvals of the relevant antitrust authorities.
