On December 11, 2025, Verkor inaugurated its first lithium-ion battery cell gigafactory in Bourbourg, near Dunkerque, under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron. The facility, which has an initial production capacity of 16 GWh per year, is designed to support Europe’s shift toward decarbonized mobility and strengthen regional industrial autonomy.
The gigafactory will create approximately 1,200 direct jobs and an estimated 3,000 indirect positions. Verkor expects to deliver its first batteries in 2026 for the Alpine A390 model and aims to scale production to 50 GWh annually by 2030, positioning itself as a leading European supplier.
This site complements Verkor’s Innovation Centre (VIC) in Grenoble. Over the past two years, the VIC has developed and validated high-performance cell chemistries, industrialized key processes, and transferred these innovations to the Bourbourg plant. The VIC continues to focus on future battery technologies, while the gigafactory emphasizes large-scale manufacturing.
The new plant features a proprietary digital factory architecture that integrates product, process, and material data for enhanced traceability, productivity, and quality control. For several months, the gigafactory has been assembling battery modules sourced from the VIC, and it now produces cells on-site.
Since 2020, Verkor has secured more than €3 billion in funding from a mix of public and private investors to support both the Dunkerque and Grenoble facilities. Key backers include Macquarie Asset Management, Meridiam, Renault Group, EQT Ventures, EIT InnoEnergy, Sibanye-Stillwater, Bpifrance, Crédit Agricole Assurances, and several European financial institutions. A consortium of international banks and public bodies—including the European Investment Bank, Bpifrance Assurance Export, the French Government’s “France 2030” plan, the Hauts-de-France region, and ADEME—also contributed financing and guarantees.
President Macron highlighted the gigafactory as evidence that reindustrialization, innovation, and decarbonization can advance together, creating jobs while bolstering Europe’s energy sovereignty. Verkor CEO Benoit Lemaignan described the inauguration as the culmination of five years of development, underscoring the company’s commitment to driving Europe’s energy transition through domestic industrial capacity.
Source: Verkor
