French EV battery cell start-up Verkor has chosen Dunkirk in northern France for its first gigafactory, Kallanish learns from the company.

While construction is scheduled to start in 2023, by July 2025 the company plans to deliver the first batteries for electric vehicles. The Dunkirk Gigafactory will have an initial capacity of 16 gigawatt-hours in 2025, to be enhanced to 50 GWh by 2030.

“Dunkirk is the most promising site out of the 40 investigated by Verkor in France, Spain and Italy...The site meets all the requirements for a gigafactory in terms of land, logistics, energy capacity, proximity to customers, access to a qualified workforce, and scalability,” Verkor says in a note.

The gigafactory will supply several automakers, including Renault, which bought a 20% stake in the start-up last year to boost production of high-performance batteries for the C and high-end segments of the Renault and Alpine models. Verkor will supply Renault with an initial capacity of 10 GWh per year (see Kallanish 24 February).

Research and development will continue to be based in Grenoble, where the company is headquartered and where it is building the Verkor Innovation Centre (VIC). Created in 2020, Verkor’s main shareholders are EQT Ventures and Renault with a smaller presence of the French state and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region.