Norwegian battery recycling company Hydrovolt announced Tuesday that it plans to expand internationally by opening a factory in France, a move that would boost an emerging center for electric vehicle battery production.
The plant will open in the town of Hordain, in the area known as France’s Battery Valley, where four major battery production facilities will open.
“This is an important milestone for Hydrovolt,” CEO Ole-Christen Enger said in a statement.
“Our entry into the French market allows us to maintain our position as a leading European recycler of electric vehicle and industrial batteries,” he added.
Hydrovolt is a joint venture between aluminium giant Norsk Hydro and Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt. The company operates Europe’s largest recycling facility for used or defective electric car batteries.
To ensure that electric vehicles reach their full potential for reducing CO2 emissions, it is important to recycle the batteries and reuse the valuable minerals they contain.
Hydrovolt can convert used batteries into a powder, or ‘black mass’, which consists of nickel, manganese, cobalt, lithium and graphite. This powder can be reused to make new batteries.
“Recycling provides a new supply of battery-grade metals, which are preferred over freshly mined materials,” the company said.
According to Hydovolt, it can recover up to 95 percent of the metals from used batteries for reuse.
The EU has set recycling targets and growing demand for electric vehicles is raising concerns about the adequacy of supplies.
The amount of the investment in the French facility was not disclosed.
According to Hydrovolt, the facility, which could open as early as next year, will initially serve as a collection point to discharge and dismantle batteries, but will also be suitable for recycling.
“It is crucial for us to create a local presence across Europe and thus build a circular battery value chain,” says Enger.
Hydrovolt expects European demand for batteries to grow exponentially as EU countries and the UK switch to electric vehicles.
In recent years, some 50 large electric battery factories, also known as ‘gigafactories’, have been established in Europe. The region wants to avoid becoming completely dependent on Asian manufacturers in the strategic industry of the future.
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