Unit of S. Korea’s Solus to build Canada copper foil facility as part of EV battery push – One America News Network

OTTAWA (Reuters) -A unit of South Korea’s Solus Advanced Materials will build a copper foil facility in the Canadian province of Quebec, producing technology for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, Ottawa said on Tuesday.

The Volta Energy Solutions project in the town of Granby is valued at C$700 million ($514.37 million) and should be at full production capacity in 2026, a spokesperson for federal Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said by email.

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Copper foil, needed to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for EVs, is used as an anode collector.

Canada, home to a large mining sector for minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, wants to woo firms involved in all levels of the EV supply chain via a multibillion-dollar green technology fund as the world seeks to cut carbon emissions.

“Canada is a partner of choice when it comes to the future of the automotive sector,” Champagne said in a statement. The federal Liberal government has promised Canada will reach overall net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Volta plant is expected to employ 260 people. Granby is close to Becancour, a small town to the east of Montreal seeking to become an EV supply chain hub.

“More projects of this sort are also coming up, solidifying our position as a green economy leader in North America,” Quebec premier Francois Legault said in a statement.

Both the federal and provincial governments are working with Volta, but immediate details of how much they will be investing was not immediately available.

Last month a consortium of Ford Motor Co F.N and South Korean companies said they would build a C$1.2 billion plant to produce EV battery materials in Becancour.

($1 = 1.3609 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Josie Kao)