China’s Gotion High-Tech and the Volkswagen Group have notified Morocco’s Competition Council of plans to set up joint ventures in Morocco, Spain and Slovakia. The proposed plant in Kénitra would produce a key material for electric vehicle battery cells destined for the European market.

Gotion plans to hold a 51% stake in the Moroccan joint venture, with the remaining 49% held by PowerCo, Volkswagen’s battery subsidiary. The announced investment in the Moroccan site totals €480 million, excluding the cost of land and industrial buildings. The plant would have an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material.

A cathode materials plant at the heart of the project

The material would primarily supply the planned battery cell plants in Valencia, Spain, and Šurany, Slovakia. Together, the two European sites would have an annual production capacity of 37.5 gigawatt-hours. The partners have announced a total investment of around €3.22 billion across the three sites.

A European market for Moroccan production

The project would give Kénitra a defined role in the battery supply chain. The Moroccan plant would produce a material that the European factories would use to make battery cells. This could create opportunities for Moroccan providers of maintenance, industrial logistics and quality control services. The share of contracts they secure will depend on the partners’ technical requirements and on local firms’ ability to meet them.

The notification marks a step in the regulatory process. The project’s timetable depends on the completion of all three facilities, which the partners designed to operate as part of the same supply chain. The start of production in Kénitra will therefore need to align with the commissioning of the two European plants.