VW Group’s joint venture IONWAY will produce battery materials in Nysa
The joint venture between PowerCo, the Volkswagen Group’s battery company, and Umicore will create 900 jobs in Poland. The plant will produce cathode active material (CAM) for the batteries of electric vehicles using green energy.
The heart of an electric car is the battery, a key component in the development of zero-emission mobility and therefore at the core of innovation. And innovating is the mission for which IONWAY, a joint venture backed by PowerCo - the Volkswagen Group‘s battery company - and Brussels-based Umicore and specialising in the production of battery materials, was established. IONWAY's first Cathode Active Material (CAM) production plant will be built in Nysa, Poland, adjacent to Umicore's existing CAM plant. Umicore is a Belgian company specialising in cathode material technology and will provide its know-how to produce in Europe cathode precursors and cathode active materials, key technology levers for battery performance.
Supporting the Green Deal
IONWAY's goal is to reach a production capacity of 160 GWh per year by the end of the decade (depending on market developments), which corresponds to a quantity of battery materials for 2.2 million electric vehicles each year. In this way, IONWAY will support the EU Green Deal by accelerating the development of local, sustainable and transparent battery value chains. "This announcement marks the first operational stage of IONWAY and an important step in the expansion of Umicore’s European integrated battery materials value chain, which follows a local-for-local approach," said Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore.
Reliable and competitive supplies
"IONWAY offers a significant advantage in the fast growing European e-mobility market. PowerCo has now co-created what it was looking for, namely a battery materials supplier that guarantees reliable and cost-competitive production of precursors and cathode materials based on sustainable raw materials," added Jörg Teichmann, Head of Purchasing at PowerCo. The production plant in Nysa is expected to create about 900 jobs and is also supported by the Polish government with EUR 350 million in cash grants under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), which promotes support measures in sectors that are key to the transition to a zero-emission economy. The total investment, to be completed by the end of the decade, will reach up to EUR 1.7 billion.
Work in progress
Work on IONWAY's first plant has begun: site preparation, engineering and permitting are currently underway, after which construction will begin. Production will start immediately after completion of the works, and in the meantime the supply of cathode active materials for the PowerCo gigafactory in Salzgitter will be secured from the existing production capacity of Umicore in Nysa. The city was chosen for its strategic location, the access to renewable energy sources to power the plant and a skilled workforce. In addition, the IONWAY plant will benefit from Umicore's know-how and have easy access to raw materials from Umicore's refining operations in Finland.
Precursors and cathode materials
"This project confirms PowerCo and Umicore's commitment to sustainable progress, making electric cars affordable for everyone," explained Thomas Jansseune, CEO of IONWAY. The new joint venture will also produce the precursor materials (pCAM) for battery cells and supply them to PowerCo's European gigafactories. The site selection for the pCAM plant is ongoing and will be announced at a later date.
Source: Volkswagen AG
VGI | Responsible OU: VP | Creation date: article date | Class 9.1