Startup Italvolt Signs Deal With Engie's Equans In Italy Battery Facility Plan

Electric vehicle battery startup Italvolt signed a partnership with Engie's unit Equans to support the design of specific industrial processes for the plant it will build in northern Italy, the three companies said on Tuesday.

No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.

Italvolt, founded and led by Swedish businessman Lars Carlstrom, has pledged to invest 3.4 billion euros ($3.9 billion) to build a battery production facility in Scarmagno, near Turin, to meet growing demand for lithium-ion batteries from Europe's automotive industry.

Once completed the facility will have a 45 gigawatt hour capacity, equal to batteries for around 500,000 electric vehicles a year, Italvolt said. The first stage of the project is expected to be completed in 2024.

As part of the plan, Italvolt last month picked Swiss engineering company ABB for early project planning of the factory.