pThe company is racing to establish a local supply chain capable of meeting its rapid start-up timeline and prodigious production targets. But, adequate streams of battery raw materials, foils, chemicals and componentry to supply what will be Canada’s largest manufacturing plant don’t exist in North America today, said PowerCo.
Volkswagen Group battery unit PowerCo SE is actively courting suppliers for its St. Thomas, Ont. battery-cell manufacturing plant, as the company races to establish a local supply chain capable of meeting its rapid start-up timeline and prodigious production targets.
PowerCo hosted more than 100 prospective suppliers in Toronto April 10 and 11, providing a detailed briefing on its material and logistical requirements for the St. Thomas gigafactory, and its expectations of its supply base. Attendees ran the gamut from local automotive suppliers and construction companies to global battery component specialists and battery mineral miners.
The vast volumes required will make even components such as cans that “look easy,” extremely challenging, said Torben Kaune, director of chemical and mechanical components procurement for PowerCo. On the materials side, Thomas Eckardt, director of active materials procurement for PowerCo, has been meeting regularly with both established and upstart Canadian miners for months.
But given the long lead times required for mining projects, and the “early phase” of development for many battery mineral projects in Canada, PowerCo isn’t sure it will be able to secure all its mineral streams from within Canada at the start of production, Teichmann added. A 'WIN-WIN BUSINESS CASE'
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