Renault orders cobalt from Managem Group
Renault Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Moroccan mining company Managem Group for the supply of cobalt for electric car batteries.
Under the terms of the agreement, Managem will supply Renault with 5,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate per year over a seven-year period, with the first delivery scheduled for 2025. Renault did not provide financial details in the announcement.
The cobalt sulphate is to be produced in Morocco. For this, Managem wants to build a factory in the Guemassa industrial complex to process cobalt ore into cobalt sulphate. A technical study on this has been completed, according to the Renault announcement. The plant is to be 80 per cent wind-powered. Renault hopes that this will lead to more sustainable production – and that the production facilities themselves will also be more efficient.
The company is also aiming for further cooperation in the supply of manganese and copper sulphate as well as in the recycling of battery materials. However, the French company is not yet giving details on this yet.
Renault is currently building an eMobility industry cluster called ElectriCity in northern France. Not only will electric cars be built there, but battery partner Envision AESC is also building a battery factory there. The factory of the second battery partner Verkor is being built a little further north near Dunkerque.
“This agreement is an additional step towards achieving the objective of reducing the carbon footprint of our batteries and achieving carbon neutrality for the Renault Group in Europe by 2040, and worldwide by 2050,” says Gianluca De Ficchy, head of purchasing for the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi alliance. “The traceability and decarbonization of the raw materials of our batteries are crucial issues for electric mobility and the energy transition. We thus ensure a local supply of low-carbon cobalt closer to our European manufacturing ecosystem of electric batteries.”
0 Comments