Germany's biggest EV battery plant takes shape with Eur2 bln investment plan

Plans for Germany's biggest EV battery plant at Kaiserslautern have advanced after car maker Opel pledged to invest Eur2 billion ($2.2 billion), the energy ministry said Friday.

Opel, part of France's Group PSA, plans to produce up to 500,000 EV battery units per year from 2024, it said.

The Kaiserslautern factory is part of a joint venture project with Total-owned Saft to develop lithium-ion batteries, initially at Saft's Nersac plant in France.

It has backing from France, Germany and the EU.

Success at Nersac would trigger investment for large-scale production plants (8 GWh initially, rising to 24 GWh later on) in the northern Hauts-de-France region and at Kaiserslautern.

Total capacity is set to reach 48 GWh/year by 2030, which equates to 1 million batteries a year, or around 10%-15% of the European market, Total said.

Meanwhile, a second German battery manufacturing project is in development, comprising BMW, BASF and companies from 14 EU member states.

The EC in December approved Eur3.2 billion state aid by seven member states for a pan-European research and innovation project in all segments of the battery value chain.

The Kaiserslautern project expects to receive Eur1.3 billion in EU and state funding.

In 2019 the EU set binding targets to expand the sale of electric vehicles.

The European market for automotive batteries is estimated to reach around 400 GWh in 2030, or 15 times current needs, corresponding to more than 7 million electric vehicles.