Europe approves €48m for Envision AESC Frech battery gigafactory

The European Commission has approved a €48 million grant for a second battery gigafactory in France to supply car maker Renault.

The measure supports the battery gigafactory by Envision AESC France alongside Renault’s electric car plant in Douai. Envision has already received €450m of support from the European Investment Bank to build the plant, with an annual capacity of 9 GWh in the first €1.3bn phase.

The plant was originally proposed in October 2023 and is meant to be supplying Renault in 2025 with capacity to supply 200,000 electric vehicles, including the latest electric Renault 5 model, through its Ampere subsidiary.

However the slowdown in the European automotive market is likely to delay that production, as well as the target of 24 GWh to 30 GWh/year by 2030 through three planned expansions.

Renault is also working with Verkor for the supply of lithium ion NMC batteries from its soon-to-be completed gigafactory in Dunkirk alongside EnVision, as well as with LG for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for other electric vehicle ranges.

Envision is also building a battery plant in the UK next to the Nissan car factory in Sunderland.