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Canadian company to invest €400 million in a lithium factory in Romania
Romania will enter the map of major manufacturers of battery components after signing a memorandum with a company that will build a lithium refinery, Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu told a press briefing on Monday, at the Government headquarters.
"I am very happy that Romania will be on the map of the big manufacturers of battery components. Because we have to say, no battery can work without lithium. Basically these refineries, these two refineries that will be built in Europe will make this lithium powder, one in Germany, one in Romania. (...) Romania will benefit from an investment of about 400 million euros, jobs and will be put on the map of the electric batteries producer. (...) Within the European legal framework, the Romanian Government pledged to grant state aid to investors who come to invest in Romania," said Virgil Popescu, at the end of the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding with RockTech Lithium.
The director of the German-Canadian company RockTech Lithium, Dirk Harbecke, mentioned that the European Union will use electric cars on a large scale, and to this end, the car industry needs to be prepared to have the necessary components. He said that a first production unit would be installed in Germany, on the border with Poland, and a second production unit for these components would be built in Romania.
The investments that the company will make in Romania will lead to the direct or indirect creation of 700 jobs, and the components will be used to equip an average of 500,000 vehicles per year.
RockTech Lithium is a Canadian company that produces lithium hydroxide, used in electric vehicles’ batteries. Besides Canada, the company also has operations in Germany, with the aim of “scaling up production right at the heart of Europe’s automotive industry.”
Last week, the Ministry of European Projects announced it had discussions with a team from Varta, which considers Romania as a location for a new factory for electric car batteries. According to deputy minister Roxana Minzatu, part of the €1 billion investment could be financed from EU funds.