Canada to give Umicore up to C$1bn for new battery components plant

The facility, in the Ontario town of Loyalist Township, will manufacture cathode active materials and precursor cathode active materials, federal Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.

The plant – the first of its kind in North America – will initially employ 600 people and have a battery materials production capacity of 35 gigawatt hours annually.

Canada, home to a large mining sector for minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, wants to woo firms involved in all levels of the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain via a multibillion-dollar green technology.

The Umicore plant is due to be built in stages and could be worth C$2.7 billion when fully completed. Canada will invest up to C$551.3 billion with Ontario adding up to C$424.6 billion.

The full project has the potential to produce enough battery materials to support the production of over 800,000 EVs per year, Champagne said.