Umicore Breaks Ground on EV Battery Material Plant in Ontario
Belgian-based company Umicore this week held a groundbreaking event in Loyalist, Ontario, about 25 km from Kingston, where it will build a 35GWh equivalent battery materials production plant to serve the North American EV market.
The engineering and permitting process is ongoing and Umicore expects to begin construction on the 141-hectare plot of land later this year. The plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2025 with production ramping up as from 2026.
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Umicore will invest $1.83 billion in the project, while the Canadian and Ontario governments will allocate up to $551.3 million and $424.6 million, respectively.
“Umicore is proud and delighted with the unwavering support and financial backing of Canada and Ontario. Their readiness to co-fund our investment coupled with the announcement of our first customer contract for the Loyalist plant mean we can forge ahead with the construction,” Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich said. “We are committed to being a reliable transformation partner for the automotive and battery industry and a trustworthy neighbor for the communities in Ontario.”
Combining the production of precursor (pCAM) and CAM, the most critical components for a high-voltage battery’s performance, Umicore’s production facility will be fully equipped to produce the most advanced high-nickel technologies and is prepared for future battery chemistries, including manganese-rich HLM and solid-state batteries.
The company insisted the plant’s production will be carbon neutral from the start using renewable energy only. During the construction phase, the plant is expected to generate approximately 1,000 employment opportunities, while several hundred highly skilled positions will be created in operations.
“Canada has everything to be a global leader in the green economy: access to global markets, a talented workforce, clean energy, world-leading innovation ecosystems and all the critical mineral resources necessary to make EV batteries,” said Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne. “This is the reason why Umicore has chosen Canada and Loyalist Township to build its new electric vehicle battery materials plant, one that will produce green battery components.”