PARIS -- French startup Verkor has selected the port of Dunkirk for a planned battery factory to supply Renault Group, the latest in a series of electric-vehicle industry projects to be announced in France.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, with the start of deliveries targeted two years later, Verkor said Tuesday. The site’s capacity will grow to 50 gigawatt-hours by 2030, from 16 gWh mid-decade.
The initial phase, which could supply enough packs for about 300,000 vehicles, may requires an investment of around 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion), Verkor’s co-founder Sylvain Paineau said in an interview.
The plant will be the third project of its kind planned in France as the nation and the European Union push for local battery production to rival Asian dominance of the sector. China’s Envision Group last year announced a 2 billion-euro project at a Renault factory in Douai, while Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies also have plans for a site in northern France.