Boost for the battery factory: Stellantis Figueruelas will receive 133.7 million from Perte VEC III

This new amount is added to the 150 million that had already been granted in previous calls

María Esteruelas Caldu Friday, October 11, 2024 / 09:54

The Stellantis plant in Figueruelas will receive 133.7 million from the third call for tenders for the Perte for the Electric and Connected Vehicle ( Perte VEC III ), within the A line of batteries, thus taking a decisive step towards the implementation of the gigafactory. This was announced by the Minister of Industry, Jordi Hereu, at the Impulsa Awards held this Tuesday at the Mobility City in Zaragoza, advancing a resolution that will be published “in the coming days”.

“It is a pleasure to announce the development of investments in Figueruelas because they are necessary and will generate a leadership in the automotive industry at a European level that will also be maintained in the coming decades,” Hereu stressed. Along these lines, the minister stressed that “electrification has no turning back” and that is why “a good part of the European funds are being allocated to the automotive industry.”

Thus, with this new amount, which is added to the 150 million already granted in previous calls, Stellantis Figueruelas will receive 298 million from European funds, in addition to the contribution of 10 million made by the Government of Aragon. An autonomous investment that came after the disappointment of the second call in which only a little more than 20% of what was requested was granted.

The resolution of this Perte, as detailed by the minister, also includes other aid: 2 million to Stellantis Vigo, 3 million to Mahle Behr Spain of Tarragona and 2.5 million to Ficosa of Barcelona. In addition, the subsidy for the PowerCo gigafactory in Sagunto has been extended, going from 98 million to 152 million. Looking ahead, the fourth call for proposals with 1.25 billion is expected to be published before the end of the year.

“A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT TO ALLOW US TO LOOK TO THE FUTURE WITH OPTIMISM”

The President of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, has described this news as “historic” and has thanked “in capital words” Europe and the Ministry for this “extraordinary boost”. “Justice has been done. This aid is a sufficient amount to look to the future with optimism ”, he stressed.

Now, the president has asked for “prudence”, since the official confirmation of the gigafactory corresponds to Stellantis, something that will foreseeably occur when the Perte administrative process is finished. “We are not going to start ringing the bells or launching fireworks, we are going to wait for the announcement by the company to mean the start of construction ”, said Azcón.

Regarding the economic outlook for Aragon and after the region receives these “long-awaited” aids, Azcón has assured that 2024 will be “a turning point” thanks to a “constant announcement of investments that amount to 35,000 million”. “Of the announced investments, we will see how some of them materialize soon, but the steps we have to follow are to squeeze the most out of them and generate ecosystems around the automotive industry,” he stressed.

WAITING FOR STELLANTIS

The first reactions have already been given by the sector. The president of the Automotive Cluster of Aragon, Benito Tesier, has pointed out that this factory will allow “anchoring the future of the automotive industry” in Aragon and guarantees that now is the time for Stellantis to “play the game with its deadlines and its times”. “We have spent many months talking, fighting and trying to help from our positions so that this project would become a reality, and today the day has arrived ”, he indicated.

He pointed to the multinational, which will have to confirm whether it undertakes the investment “alone” or “accompanied by a technological partner”. “It will probably be the second option, since the manufacture of batteries and their technology is in the hands of Asian manufacturers and the most reasonable thing is to play with the times,” he stressed.

In this regard, it is worth remembering that it was Minister Hereu himself who hinted at Stellantis’ negotiations with the Chinese battery company CATL, a possible collaboration that is still up in the air without official confirmation.

THE BATTERY FACTORY, AT A KEY MOMENT

The announcement also comes at a key moment for the automotive industry, marked by this transition towards electrification that will determine the future of the sector. Three electric models are already being assembled at the Stellantis Figueruelas plant (Opel Corsa, Lancia Ypsilon and Peugeot 208) but the manufacture of batteries will allow us to take a further step towards competitiveness and enter the race for the electric car.

Just last week, the EU gave the green light to the imposition of tariffs on these vehicles from China, which could be seen as a time of reaction for the automotive industry, as analysed by CEOE Aragón.

Therefore, since the third time is the charm and according to calculations everything points to Stellantis having sufficient funding to implement the gigafactory, it is only a matter of time before it gets up and running with the aim of maintaining Aragón as a benchmark region in the automotive industry.