Hydrovolt will open battery recycling facility in France

Norwegian battery recycling company Hydrovolt said on Tuesday it will expand internationally by opening a facility in France, boosting a nascent hub for electric vehicle battery production.

The facility will open in the city of Hordain, in what is becoming known as France’s Battery Valley, with the opening of four major battery production facilities.

“This is a huge milestone for Hydrovolt,” Chief Executive Ole-Christen Enger said in a statement.

“Entering the French market will help us maintain our position as a European leader in the recycling of electric vehicles and industrial batteries,” he added.

A joint venture between aluminum giant Norsk Hydro and Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, Hydrovolt operates Europe’s largest recycling of used or defective electric car batteries.

For electric vehicles to realize their full potential to reduce carbon emissions, it is important to recycle batteries to reuse the valuable minerals they contain.

Hydrovolt is capable of taking used batteries and transforming them into powder, or “black mass”, composed of nickel, manganese, cobalt, lithium and graphite that can be reused in the manufacture of new batteries.

“Recycling provides a new supply of battery metals that are preferable to newly mined materials,” the company said.

Hydovolt claims it can recover up to 95% of metals from used batteries for reuse.

The EU has set recycling targets and the rush to electric vehicles has created concerns about adequate supply.

The amount of investment in the French facilities was not disclosed.

Hydrovolt said the facility, which could open as early as next year, would initially serve as a collection point for discharging and dismantling batteries, but is suitable for recycling operations.

“It is critical for us to establish a local presence across Europe to help build a circular battery value chain,” said Enger.

Hydrovolt expects European demand for batteries to grow exponentially as EU countries and Britain move towards electric vehicles.

Around 50 large electric battery factories, or “gigafactories”, have been announced in recent years in Europe, as the region strives to avoid becoming entirely dependent on Asian manufacturers in the strategic industry of the future.

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