OTTAWA – A C$1.5 billion ($1.15 billion) plant that will manufacture components for electric-vehicle batteries will be built in eastern Ontario, Canada, provincial and federal officials announce.
Umicore, a multinational materials technology and recycling company based in Belgium, says the plant will have hundreds of employees when it opens in 2025. Construction, which will employ another 1,000 people, begins in 2023.
An Ontario government note describes the plant as an “industrial scale facility that combines production of precursor cathode active materials and cathode active materials at the same facility.” Cathode active materials are high-purity chemicals that are key components in the lithium-ion batteries that power most EVs.
Umicore has signed an agreement with the municipality of Loyalist Township, west of Kingston, to secure 350 acres (141 ha) of land for the project. Umicore wants plant output to power approximately 1 million EVs per year by 2030. The company says it already is negotiating production contracts with several potential customers in North America.
Vic Fedeli (pictured, below left), Ontario’s minister of economic development, job creation and trade, tells Wards the plant will be a “first of a kind” in North America. He also says it will be “the final piece in the puzzle” of an integrated EV supply chain in Ontario, linking its supply of critical battery minerals to final battery manufacture, parts-making, auto assembly and autonomous-vehicle technology.
Both the Ontario and Canadian governments have promised financial support for the initiative. But while they are expected to spend matching amounts, the level of public assistance is being kept confidential, with an Ontario government official saying this was needed “to protect our negotiating position.”
Fedeli’s Conservative provincial government has been working closely with Canada’s Liberal federal government to secure investment by auto manufacturers, especially on shifting production toward EVs and batteries. They have subsidized major Ontario projects announced this year, such as Honda retooling its Alliston plants to make hybrid vehicles and engines, and Stellantis and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution building a battery plant in Windsor.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says at the July 13 announcement that the Umicore plant is “another major step forward as we make Canada a global leader in producing electric vehicles – from minerals to manufacturing.”
Fedeli says the Ontario government wants to ensure the new EV supply chain includes as many provincial companies as possible. “We're looking for many more suppliers to feed all the plants. It’s a fully sustainable ecosystem.”
The trade minister says he and other officials will visit Belgium to discuss with Umicore how Ontario companies such as mining and machine-tooling firms can help. A visit to South Korea and Japan to talk with LG Energy Solution about its purchases from Ontario companies will also be held, with the government hoping to match buyers with suppliers.
Fedeli says Ontario wants to “continue to focus on the supply side” regarding EV market development. “We want the people of Ontario to have the option of buying an electric vehicle that’s built in Ontario,” with more locally made models as choices, he says.
The government is keen to stress the low-carbon nature of the province’s energy sector – largely nuclear and hydroelectric. Umicore has said it wants to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 worldwide, noting in a statement that access to renewable energy across its sites “is a key lever to reaching this goal.”
Umicore also says access to a highly skilled workforce was an important benefit regarding the plant’s location in eastern Ontario; Kingston is a university town with strong research facilities. Fedeli adds the provincial government has been focusing its R&D funds on EV production and its education spending on training for this auto industry segment.
