Recently, Verkor obtained more than €1.3 billion in green financing, with the help of three state banks and sixteen commercial banks. The building and finance of Verkor’s first gigafactory, which will be built in Dunkirk, France, with a 16 GWh annual production capacity, will be the direct beneficiary of these funds.
With this, the French company has already raised almost €3 billion in funding for the Verkor Innovation Center and its first gigafactory for batteries.
The company states that in order to finance the gigafactory and create a strong financial environment to sustain its expansion, it has opted to assemble a diverse group of banking partners. Following the major banks’ first push two years ago, Verkor has now gained the backing of additional public and private entities.
Interestingly, a €400 million investment has been made available by the European Investment Bank. This consists of €270 million in direct loans made to the commercial banks financing the transaction under the European Commission’s ‘InvestEU’ mandate and €130 million in intermediated loans.
Senior loans totaling €961 million are being contributed by the banks; €353 million of these loans are guaranteed by the French government through the “Garantie des Projets Stratégiques” (GPS) program.
“We are honored to have obtained €1.3 billion to advance our goals. “With the help of this debt financing, we can now complete the construction of our Gigafactory, which will begin producing its first low-carbon battery cells in 2025,” Verkor CEO Benoit Lemaignan stated.
“19 of the top banks have joined us, proving the legitimacy of our initiative and stepping up our efforts to become one of Europe’s top battery producers. We are also happy that this funding comes in the form of a first-ever “green loan,” the speaker continued.
The gigafactory, which will be operational in 2025 and generate about 1,200 direct employment and 3,000 indirect jobs over the next two years, is situated near Dunkirk. With this facility, Verkor hopes to become a significant player for European mobility and stationary storage companies.
Verkor strives to produce low-carbon batteries with the least amount of environmental damage. The company’s receipt of the independent grading agency’s “Dark Green” designation attests to the environmental excellence of its project.
(Source : ETN)