Are the old industrial lands of northern France mistaking for America or China, where are the “gigafactories” of batteries for electric cars growing? Monday, June 28, in Douai (North), President Emmanuel Macron was, in any case, to become a provider of good news and announce the creation of a second giant battery factory which will supply the Renault group, after that of Automotive Cells Company (ACC, Stellantis-Total joint venture), in Douvrin (Pas-de-Calais).
The Sino-Japanese company Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), a former Nissan subsidiary acquired in 2018 by the Chinese Envision, will invest 2 billion euros to build, from 2022, a production site for battery cells on land adjacent to the Renault factory in Douai.
The new gigafactory should be able to produce 9 gigawatt hours (GWh) of batteries per year in 2024, for the production of the future Renault electric R5, and could increase its capacity to 24 GWh in 2030. Envision says it wants to hire 1,000 people ‘by 2024. Total employment could rise to 2,500 jobs in 2030. For the record, in Douvrin, the ACC plant, which will primarily supply the Stellantis brands (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, etc.), will produce, in 2030, 28 GWh and will employ 2,000 people.
If Envision is putting 2 billion euros in the business, public funding is not negligible: around 200 million euros from the state and local communities. This concerns aid for the production of batteries and support for Renault to adapt its Douai plant and possibly some research and development, and aid for the production of its new electric vehicles.
A valley of electrical employment
The announcement is obviously good news for Douaisis. Xavier Bertrand, president (various right) of the Hauts-de-France region, campaigning for his re-election, did not resist the pleasure of delivering the information to the media, from Friday, June 25, seventy-two hours before the head of state. This was also the occasion for some remote bickering, this weekend, between Mr. Bertrand and the Minister for Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, to find out to whom we owed this profusion of future jobs. .
It is true that a valley of electrical employment is emerging, almost marrying the design of the coal basin of the North and the Pas-de-Calais. And Renault holds a prominent place there. The Envision factory in Douai is a key part of the vast production complex of battery-powered cars, called ElectriCity, set up by the diamond group. ElectriCity includes, in addition to Renault Douai and Envision, the Maubeuge plant (North, Kangoo production) and Ruitz (Pas-de-Calais, mechanical plant). Ultimately, this set promises to employ nearly 8,500 employees and produce 400,000 vehicles per year.
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