PowerCo, the new battery company of the Volkswagen Group, and Umicore, the Belgian circular materials technology group, announced today the founding of a joint venture for precursor and cathode material production in Europe. From 2025 onwards, the joint venture will supply PowerCo’s European battery cell factories with key materials. By the end of the decade, the partners aim to produce cathode material and their precursors for 160 GWh cell capacity per year, which compares to an annual production capacity capable of powering about 2.2 million full electric vehicles. Cathode active materials are crucial for a successful powertrain transition towards e-mobility as they are the key technological lever for battery performance, as well as the biggest single contributor to overall battery cost.
The long-term partnership centers on the production of precursor and cathode materials in Europe, which are strategically important input materials central to battery value creation. Unter the terms of additional agreements, Umicore and PowerCo will collaborate on the sustainable and responsible sourcing of raw materials, an area in which Umicore is an industry leader. In this context, Umicore will be also providing refining services to PowerCo. At a later stage, based on Umicore’s technology and know-how, both partners aim to include elements of refining and battery recycling into the scope of the JV.
Thomas Schmall, Group Board Member for Technology at Volkswagen AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PowerCo SE, said at the signing of the JV: “Cathode material is an indispensable strategic resource for battery production, accounting for roughly fifty percent of overall cell value. Immediate and long-term access to extensive capacity is thus a very clear competitive advantage. We are setting up a sustainable, transparent supply chain with high environmental and social standards, localizing value creation here in Europe.”
Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich: “This partnership is a strong signal of recognition of our product and process expertise and a testament to the success of our strategy to establish sustainable industrial-scale, closed loop battery materials value chains in key regions. We are supporting our customers on their path to electrification right from the start, and are very pleased to partner with PowerCo and support Volkswagen in their fast transformation towards sustainable electric mobility.”
Production at the JV is scheduled to start in 2025 to supply PowerCo’s Salzgitter factory, reaching an annual capacity of 40 GWh in 2026. Both partners target to grow the JV‘s annual production…
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