Chinese firms power France's 'battery valley'

LILLE, France — In the "battery valley" in northern France, Chinese companies actively participate in local projects to produce electric vehicles and their batteries, a partnership widely appreciated by a region keen on green reindustrialization.

With four gigafactories announced in three years, the battery valley in the Hauts-de-France region is interested in "taking on strengths from all countries, including Chinese players who have gained a real lead in battery and electric vehicle technology so that we can also benefit from their know-how", said Yann Pitollet, CEO of Nord France Invest in Lille, the largest city in the region.

One of them is Automotive Cells Company's battery gigafactory, announced in 2020 and in production since May, and is a joint venture of TotalEnergies, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz.

The other three are separate investments by Envision AESC in Shanghai, solid battery specialist Prologium in Taiwan, and startup Verkor in Grenoble, France. The region has "put in place administrative processes that make it possible to go fast", Pitollet said.

"We have no worries that everything will go well," he said, adding that the Envision AESC plant, announced in 2021, is under construction and will be commissioned shortly. The Prologium plant, announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in May, is in the study phase.

At the end of last year, Chinese group XTC New Energy and French nuclear group Orano announced a project to manufacture cathodes and recycle batteries.

In January, two new production lines began to make battery boxes for electric vehicles in a joint venture by French carmaker Renault Group and Chinese automotive supplier Minth in Ruitz in the battery valley.

"What really interests us is to have this partnership so that we can benefit from the know-how of these Chinese companies that have made very, very rapid progress, particularly in electric vehicles, but also in upstream technologies," Pitollet said.

For Renault, which has partnered with Envision AESC for the battery gigafactory, the success of the joint venture with Minth is a model for other projects. Launched on July 13, the joint venture started production in less than three months with two new lines installed.

Jean-Luc Bois, director of the Renault Electricity site in Ruitz, said a battery box may seem to be just a box, but it must fulfill three main functions — sealing, cooling and precision.

"Minth's experience on these lines of production is the culmination of a number of other lines that allowed them to learn," he said. "One of the benefits of working with a Chinese partner is this know-how about the product and the process. We are stronger working together than starting alone from zero."

Renault is committed to concentrating industrial activities on its electric cars in France. It has grouped all activities around electric cars in its new branch Ampere.

Renault Ampere aims to produce 400,000 electric vehicles in France next year. The national goal is to produce nearly 2 million electric and hybrid vehicles by 2030. To this end, nearly all the elements linked to the electric car value chain must be localized in France.

Apart from assets such as the availability of land and electricity, Pitollet relies on access to a skilled workforce to attract more investments. The region is pushing for an alliance of training organizations to train 20,000 people in the coming years.

The University of Artois opened a new school in September to "train engineers of the future who will work in a more electrified world". Its students are already being trained at the Minth-Renault plant.

"We put them in an industrial situation where they see the reality of current technology," Gabriel Velu, vice-president of the university, said. "France took its turn on electricity a little late. Therefore, we need others to help us catch up."

Building a battery valley in Hauts-de-France within a few years marks an upturn in its green reindustrialization.

This "allows us to think about the equipment, the local production of parts for the vehicle, all the questions of supply and eventually the recovery of waste", said Olivier Gacquerre, mayor of Bethune and also president of a group of some 100 nearby municipalities, including Ruitz.

Xinhua