Germany – Funding decision for battery cell production at the Opel site in Kaiserslautern handed over: 437 million euros for sustainable battery cell production.
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier,the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, and the Minister of Economic Affairs of Rhineland-Palatinate, Daniela Schmitt, handed over a grant notice for a large battery cell factory to be built there at the Opel site in Kaiserslautern.
The grant decision of the Federal Ministry of Economics has a total volume of 437 million euros (specifically 436.8 million euros) and is granted for the battery project “Automotive Cell Company – ACC” of the joint venture of the same name of the international automotive group Stellantis, Opel Automobile GmbH and the French battery manufacturer Saft. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate is initially contributing around 51 million euros, which is included in the total sum of 437 million euros.
Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister said:
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We want the most innovative, sustainable and efficient batteries to come from Germany and Europe.
“The future ACCbattery cell production in Kaiserslautern is central to this. The new battery cell plant will secure employment for around 2,000 employees and sustainably produce battery cells for around half a million electric vehicles annually in the future. This is a milestone for the transformation of the German automotive industry towards sustainable drives: With batteries made in Germany, we are securing added value and jobs of tomorrow!”
Malu Dreyer, Prime Minister emphasized the importance of battery cell production for the Kaiserslautern site:
Battery cell production not only creates sustainable jobs and training places, it also underlines Kaiserslautern’s enormous innovation potential.
Here, a new phase of automotive engineering will be initiated and thus the great tradition of the Kaiserslautern location will be continued. “Battery cell production will also send a positive signal for the transformation,” said Prime Minister Malu Dreyer. The switch to electromobility is undoubtedly a challenge for the automotive industry, but one that can be mastered. The start of battery cell production in Kaiserslautern gives the employees of the industry a real future perspective.
“This innovative cutting-edge technology will put the Kaiserslautern site on an even broader foundation,” said Prime Minister Malu Dreyer with conviction.”
Daniela Schmitt, Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Economic Affairs.
The entry into battery cell production upgrades Rhineland-Palatinate as an automotive location and helps it to achieve a leading position in the field of electromobility.
Yann Vincent, CEO ACC :
Today is an important step in acc’syoung history.
“We want to use this settlement in a targeted manner to locate other companies – especially SMEs – in this field of technology in the region and thus build up a competence network around battery-electric storage systems. The establishment of battery cell production will sustainably strengthen the economic development of the entire West Palatinate,”
“This vote of confidence from the German authorities reinforces our ambition to become a European leader in the development and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles and to enable clean and affordable mobility for all. The agreement concluded with the Federal Government reflects this ambition.”
Ralph Wangemann, Managing Director Human Resources at Opel and Labor Director:
Today is a good day for Stellantis, Opel and the Kaiserslautern site.
“We are building a real giga-factory for battery cells here. From 2023, we will gradually build three blocks with a capacity of eight gigawatt hours each. Production is scheduled to start in 2025. In the future, our joint venture Automotive Cell Company will be able to equip 500,000 vehicles annually with state-of-the-art battery cells from the Kaiserslautern site alone and will thus make an important contribution to climate protection.”
“We want to produce the world’s best, most efficient and most environmentally friendly battery cells for long ranges in the Palatinate and thus make the location fit for the future in the age of electromobility.”
The project will create a battery cell factory in Kaiserslautern with an initial production capacity of 24 GWh and around 2,000 new jobs in production and development. The companies involved in the joint venture are investing more than 2 billion euros in this project. This creates a long-term perspective for the transformation towards electromobility for the plant in the Palatinate, which has so far been characterized by combustion engines and component production.
The ACC joint venture will also build an equally large battery cell factory in Douvrin in northern France, which will be funded by the French government as part of the same Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI).
Since the beginning of 2019, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), together with the European Commission and eleven other EU Member States, has been pursuing two major IPCEI projects for research and investment in the battery sector.
To promote the expansion of innovative battery cell production, the BMWi is providing a total of up to three billion euros. German companies play key roles in both IPCEI consortia. In total, investments of more than 13 billion euros are being initiated in the two IPCEIs in Germany alone by 15 supported companies.
It is expected that around 10,000 jobs will be created throughout Germany throughout Germany in the area of new environmentally friendly added value.
From the first battery IPCEI, all five projects approved by the EU Commission have now been launched, from the second IPCEI six out of eleven. The other German IPCEI projects will also be presented with the funding notices in the coming weeks.
Funding decision for battery cell production at Opel’s Kaiserslautern site handed over: 437 million euros for sustainable battery cell production, September 2, 2021
