France’s first electric car battery plant has opened in the country’s former mining heartland as part of Emmanuel Macron’s “reindustrialisation” plan.
Three government ministers and numerous local officials attended the inauguration of the Automative Cell Company’s (ACC) gigafactory near Lens, seen as the first step towards France challenging China’s dominance in the sector.
ACC, which is equally owned by TotalEnergies, Jeep maker Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz, has received a €1.3bn package of state aid from France, Germany and Italy as part of a €7bn plan to build a string of new facilities across the countries.
The Lens plant, which will begin production this summer, is expected to eventually create 2,000 jobs – including 400 this year – and produce 800,000 batteries a year. It is the first of three such plants, with sites in Germany and Italy to follow.
The area of northern France, less than 40 miles from the British coast, that has been hit by industrial decline, has been named ‘Battery Valley’. Earlier this month the Taiwanese battery maker ProLogium chose Dunkirk in the same region for its first foreign facility.
Macron hopes to create thousands of jobs by encouraging companies to invest in new factories.
Source : Guardian
