On Tuesday June 27th 2023, ABEE has organized a launching event of the European project Romvolt. The event took place at the Old city hall of Ninove, followed by a guided tour of the Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering (ABEE) headquarters. Among the guests (in the photo) were H.E Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister, Belgium, H.E. Stefan Radu Oprea, Minister of Economy, Romania, Mr. Joaquim Nunes de Almeida, Director in charge, Mobility and energy intensive industries in DG GROW, European Commission, Mr. Ionuț Florin Pucheanu, Mayor of Galati, Ms. Tania De Jonge, Mayor of Ninove, H.E Andreea Pastarnac the Romanian Ambassador to Belgium and Mr. Dan Nica, Member European Parliament.
Romvolt is a project of lithium-ion battery cell plant in Galati, Romania, with a total production capacity of 22 GWh and total investment of 1.4 billion Euro. The cell production is crucial for the EU due to the current market situation where China is dominating the Li-ion cell supply. More production capacities are required in the future to fulfil the increasing European demand. Romvolt will supply battery cells mainly for the automotive industry, but also for the stationary market, since storage is also required for the transition to renewable energy.
This giga project aligns with the Romanian’s government vision of integrating Romania in the value chain of batteries at the European level and aims to make the country a source of supply of cells in the sustainable battery production and use to the entire Europe. The factory will create 2000 jobs in different departments (white and blue collar) in addition to creating around 1000 indirect jobs, when we take the whole supply chain into account.
Dr. Prof. Noshin Omar, Chairman and founder of Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering (ABEE), declared: “In Romania, we will first set up a factory for lithium-ion battery cells with a capacity of 22 gigawatt hours by 2026 to 2027. There will also be a recycling capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year. The technology of Romvolt, the project in Romania, comes exclusively from Ninove. All the development is done there. From Ninove, we will provide assistance with the operational aspects during start-up. We will also provide the necessary training there for the local people in Romania.”
HE Stefan Radu Oprea, Romanian Minister of Economy, stated: “One of the priorities of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism is to boost Romania’s integration into the European battery value chain in line with European policies and regulations in order to create the optimal development framework for electromobility, part of the Green Deal objectives.”