ILJIN Materials is receiving unprecedented support from the Spanish government to build Europe's first elecfoil (copper foil) production plant for electric vehicle batteries.
The Spanish government is providing funding of up to 40 billion KRW and land for a solar power plant larger than the factory site for free of charge, and guarantees up to half the price of electricity for the next 10 years. It is expected that the cost competitiveness will increase compared to other battery manufacturing countries in Europe, such as Hungary and Poland, which are struggling with manufacturing cost increases such as manpower shortage and electricity rates.
ETNEWS recently visited Mont-roig del Camp, Catalonia, Spain, where ILJIN Materials' elecfoil plant will be built. ILJIN Materials plans to invest a total of 500 billion KRW to complete a 400,000㎡ (120,000 py) copper foil factory for electric vehicle batteries that has annual production capacity of 25,000 tons in the second half of 2024.
The Spanish government, Catalonia, and Mont-roig del Camp made unprecedented support to attract the ILJIN Materials copper foil plant. Starting with ILJIN Materials, their goal is to create an electric vehicle ·battery manufacturing ecosystem centered on South Korean companies. They will have advantages for market access and securing manpower compared to the production infrastructure of South Korean companies focused on Eastern Europe, and it is also expected to improve the quality of production of metal materials according to a stable climate environment.
The Spanish government recently promised to provide land for a solar power plant with an area of about 500,000㎡ (150,000 py) within 500m of the ILJIN Materials plant for free of charge. It is necessary to pay a transmission fee of several KRW per ㎾h because it uses the national power grid when constructing a power plant according to local laws. However, all these costs are exempted when the straight-line distance between the power plant and the customer (factory) is less than 500m. In the end, it is interpreted that the Spanish government provided land close to the factory to lift burden of transmission charges.
ILJIN Materials is planning to invest 60 billion KRW to build a solar power plant (generation capacity of 60 ㎿p), and through this power plant, 50% of the electrical energy required for the plant will be covered. The other half of electricity will be also discounted. The Spanish government has decided to subsidize electricity rates at half the local level for the next 10 years. For ILJIN Materials, half of the electrical energy required to operate the plant is renewable energy and the other half can be used at half the price. It is in contrast to the current electricity situation in Poland and Hungary, where electricity rates per ㎾h have soared to 200-300 KRW.
The Spanish government also decided to provide more than 40 billion KRW through the European Union (EU) fund (PERTE) and the local industry promotion fund (Regional AID). The final amount of support is under final review, but it is expected to exceed 5% of the total investment in the copper foil plant.
Minister of Catalonia, Roger Torrent, said, “In order to attract ILJIN Materials’ elecfoil factory, we provided unprecedented support, such as fundings and discounted electricity rates, and recently adopted a fast-track method that did not exist before for quick licensing and administrative procedures. We will continue to provide necessary support in the future so that there is no problem in the supplying highly educated and skilled manpower through tailored programs for the company.”
Spain is the second largest automobile producer in Europe after Germany. Mercedes-Benz·Opel·Peugeot·Citroen are producing electric vehicles, and Volkswagen and Ford recently confirmed electric vehicle production plant in Spain.
Barcelona (Spain)=
By Staff Reporter Tae-jun Park gaius@etnews.com