In Morocco, the mining group Managem has signed a commercial agreement with the French car manufacturer Renault to supply cobalt for the production of batteries for its electric vehicles. This new partnership heralds a new era in the development of green mobility on a global scale.
As part of its objective to reduce the carbon footprint of its batteries by 35% in Europe by 2030, the French car manufacturer Renault is banking on low-carbon cobalt. The Moroccan group Managem, which specialises in the mining and hydrometallurgy sector, will supply it with 35,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphates between 2025 and 2032, i.e. 5,000 tonnes per year.
The resource will enable Renault to maximise its production of electric batteries to reach an annual capacity of 15 GWh. The commercial agreement between the two partners foresees initially the construction of a new factory within the industrial complex of Guemassa in the tourist city of Marrakech, which will be used to transform cobalt ore into cobalt sulphate.
Read also-MOROCCO: Tesla starts up two charging stations for electric vehicles
According to the CEO of the Managem mining group, Renault will rely on the energy efficiency of its facilities, which translates into the optimisation of consumption and the use of green energy, more than 80% of which is wind-generated. “This agreement also includes the possibility for the two partners to develop potential cooperation on the supply of manganese sulphate and copper as well as on the recycling of battery materials in short loops,” says Imad Toumi.
Following the example of other car manufacturers, Renault is speeding up the electric sector with the launch of several ranges of vehicles equipped with rechargeable batteries. This is the case of the electric Zoe E-Tech, launched at the end of 2012. The group headed by Luca de Meo also markets the electric Megane E-Tech, the electric Twingo E-Tech and even utility vehicles such as the electric Master E-Tech.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
