The project ‘aims to create almost 1,500 jobs by 2032, with a total investment of more than €2.2 billion’ in the Mulhouse conurbation, announced the Minister for the Economy, Bruno Le Maire

On Friday 17 May, in the presence of the French Minister for the Economy, the Bolloré Group made official its plans to produce new-generation batteries in a ‘gigafactory’ in Alsace, scheduled for 2030. ‘This gigafactory is a powerful symbol of the reindustrialisation under way in France,’ said Bruno Le Maire after visiting the Blue Solutions battery plant near the group’s headquarters in Ergué-Gabéric, Finistère.

At the Breton site, advanced research and development activities and a first pilot line will be set up from 2026, creating 230 jobs, the Minister added. The gigafactory will be built in the Mulhouse conurbation in Alsace, where Blue Solutions plans to create nearly 1,500 jobs by 2032, with a total investment of more than €2.2 billion, according to a press release.

The Ministry of the Economy and the Alsace region have not disclosed the amount of public funding for this ‘fifth French gigafactory’ project, which should have an annual production capacity of 25 gigawatt hours (GWh), equivalent to 250,000 vehicles a year, according to its promoters. For the pilot plant, the Brittany region and the Quimper Bretagne Occidentale conurbation will invest between €13 and €14 million, according to the region’s president, Loïg Chesnais-Girard.

‘To sum up, in a sector that didn’t exist five years ago – we weren’t producing any electric batteries in France – we are going to create a new industrial sector that will represent 20,000 industrial jobs within ten years’, said Bruno Le Maire. According to the press release, Blue Solutions’ fourth-generation batteries are solid lithium-metal batteries designed to offer 40% more range than the current maximum capacity of lithium-ion batteries.