Vehicle OEM Renault Group and battery chemicals firm Terrafame have signed a non-exhaustive memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the supply of nickel sulphate for use in lithium-ion batteries.
Renault aims to secure an annual supply of nickel sulphate from Terrafame, representing up to 15GWh of lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity.
The deal will start with the commercial delivery nickel sulphate in 2025, and will represent 21% of Renault’s total announced capacity until 2030.
A Renault spokesman told BEST: “The volumes [of nickel sulphate] will be specified at a later stage of cooperation, the parties have now signed a non-exhaustive MoU.”
Terrafame operates a production line for nickel sulphate in Finland.
The cooperation will pay particular attention to sustainability systems and define detailed metrics for traceability beyond solutions used for EV battery chemicals production.
Renault Group has also formed a partnership with Vulcan to secure low-carbon lithium and an alliance with Veolia and Solvay to recycle battery materials in a closed loop.
Renault aims to be carbon neutral in Europe by 2040.
Manufacturing capacity
In July, Renault announced it was part of two major deals that could see Chinese firm Envision and French firm Verkor build 74GWh of lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity by 2030.
Renault is partnering with Envision AESC— the battery arm of Envision Group— to develop a 9GWh gigafactory in Douai by 2024, with the aim of reaching 24GWh six-years later.
The firm has also signed a MoU to become a “more than” 20% shareholder of Verkor, and plans to join the consortium that was created around the French start-up in 2020.
The initial phases of the partnership will involve the financing of an R&D centre (Verkor Innovation Centre); the second phase will see Verkor create a 16GWh gigafactory— for which 10GWh is earmarked for Renault—to manufacture high- performance batteries in France, with potential to rise to 20GWh by 2030.
Verkor aims to reach a total annual capacity target of 50GWh by 2030, of which 20GWh will go to Renault Group.