A French company whose shareholders are TotalEnergies, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz and which is currently building a mega-factory in Hauts-de-France is knocking on the door of Investissement Québec (IQ) and Mirabel to build a battery factory here.
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“Direct funding, incentives and grants related to the site selection, development and construction of a new battery processing facility in the province of Quebec,” according to the Quebec Lobbyist Registry.
We learn that the French Automotive Cells Company SE (ACC) has already raised between 600 and 700 million dollars in public funds from abroad for its projects.
The joint venture advertises to IQ and Mirabel but not yet to the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE) if we rely on the register.
A trio of shareholders
Its three shareholders are Saft (TotalEnergies), Stellantis (Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot) and luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz.
“As a high-tech company, we have invested 7 billion euros in the first phases of our development,” says the company’s website.
Through its projects, ACC hopes to produce 2 million lithium-ion batteries each year.
On Tuesday, ACC did not respond to the journal’s interview request. The mayor of Mirabel didn’t answer our calls either.
In mid-April, Lion Electric opened its Mirabel battery plant, two years after receiving $100 million in loans from Quebec and Ottawa.
A Northvolt mega factory?
Additionally, Investissement Québec CEO Guy LeBlanc responded to an article by La Presse on Tuesday, saying that Sweden’s Northvolt could ask more than $9 billion for a mega-factory project on the Saint-Basile border. -le- Grand and McMasterville in Montérégie.
“I don’t think we’re on that scale there,” said IQ’s number 1.
However, he confirmed that cell cabinets of this scale are more expensive “because they are much more complex installations that require a lot of manpower and energy”.
– In collaboration with Sylvain Larocque