Volta Energy Solutions announced a C$750 million investment in Granby, Quebec, east of Montreal. The provincial government will provide a C$150 million loan, to be partly forgiven if the firm meets conditions such as maintaining 260 jobs at the plant.
The Canadian government didn’t disclose how much it’s willing to contribute. Negotiations are still ongoing. South Korean firms have been investing heavily in Canada amid the global push to refashion the vehicle supply chain around electric vehicles. LG Energy Solutions Ltd. partnered with Stellantis NV to build a battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, getting as much as C$16 billion in incentives to offset capital and operating costs over a decade.
Two other ventures in Quebec, involving General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., have been signed with South Korean firms. The Granby copper plant was shut down in 2005 and sold in 2015. Volta now plans to go into mass production in 2026, with a production capacity of 25,000 tons per year. A second phase will increase production to 63,000 tons, supplying copper foils for as many as 2.5 million cars in North America, according to a statement emailed to Bloomberg. The company already has other facilities in Luxembourg and Hungary.