Italvolt, at what point is the gigafactory in Scaramagno?
All the latest news on the Itavolt gigafactory that will be born in Scarmagno
Of the largest gigafactory in Europe, to be located in Italy, one of the states of the Old Continent that has so far said less in terms of automotive renewal in view of the electric revolution (in the meantime the conversion of Termoli has been confirmed, which today produces endothermic engines, thanks to Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies , which should be joined by the former Whirlpool of FIB in Teverola, in the province of Caserta, which should produce 7.5-8 GWh of lithium-ion batteries and that of Gavassa, in Emilia Romagna, of Silk Faw, on which however there are many doubts ), we have been talking for over 1 year now. We were in fact at the dawn of 2021 when in Scaramagno, just outside Ivrea, an unknown name began to echo: Italvolt. It is the reality that for more than 12 months has been saying and repeating that it is ready to invest 4 billion euros in the area of the former Olivetti.
WHAT IS ITALVOLT
“I am Italvolt”, told Quattroruote Lars Calstrom , the Swedish entrepreneur behind Britishvolt, of which, right from the name, Italvolt should represent the twin located in the Bel Paese. “I am currently the only partner and financier, I reinvested there part of the proceeds from the sale of my stake in Britishvolt: for now about five million euros. I am trying to raise another 35 to form the initial capital, thanks to a series of investors whose participation I cannot yet formalize. Some are Italian, and very well known. However, at that point we will create a platform to expand the number ”.
WHY DID ITALVOLT CHOOSE SCARAMAGNO?
“It is no coincidence that the Italvolt Gigafactory is located in Scarmagno, Piedmont”, they explain from the Group, taking things for granted (in reality, as we will see, the situation is a bit more complex). "In the country where Alessandro Volta invented the battery back in the 1800s, we have chosen a site previously used by Olivetti for the manufacture of high-tech products". This is the romantic explanation, it follows the pragmatic one: “It is an area with a rich industrial heritage, especially as a hub of the European automotive industry, and offers a large skilled workforce. It is also a strategic crossroads of the pan-European corridors from east to west and north to south. " In fact, Italvolt holds a purchase option for the Ex Olivetti area.
THE GIGAFACTORY OF IVREA IN NUMBERS
There Italvolt intends to build, by 2024, a plant designed by Pininfarina with an extension of 300,000 square meters, which in the projects will employ about 3,000 people and will reach a production capacity of up to 45 GWh per year when fully operational, thus becoming a of the largest factories of its kind in the world. “Thanks to the use of sustainable raw materials, renewable energy and innovative recycling systems – reads the materials distributed to the press -, Italvolt will reduce CO2 emissions to a minimum. The 20,000 square meter R&D center, in collaboration with high profile academic and industrial partners, will create unparalleled skills in technological innovation, knowledge transfer and staff training. In addition, some areas of the site will be open to the community, with public spaces, parks, childcare facilities and more ”.
WHAT STATE IS THE GIGAFACTORY AT?
The dream of buying Saab vanished, the Italian car manufacturer which, despite advertising its products comparing them to jets, closed its hangars since that day, now Calstrom is betting everything on Italvolt. But in reality, as anticipated, the project is still in progress and far from definitive. A few steps forward have been taken in recent days, with the signing with the Piedmont Region, the Metropolitan City of Turin and the Municipalities of Scarmagno, Romano Canavese and Ivrea of the memorandum of understanding for the "coordination of actions and procedures" to be followed for a “More efficient unitary administrative action” relating to the construction of the Gigafactory.
THE ROAD MAP TO OPEN BY 2024
Now it will be necessary to see if the Italian PA, which certainly does not shine for speed, will stay on schedule. The protocol provides for the establishment of a Technical Coordination Table which will be chaired by a delegate from the Region who will have to coordinate and support the various institutional offices involved in carrying out environmental, urban planning and building procedures. The entities have undertaken to complete the procedure within seven months from the submission of the application. Italvolt, from its canton, plans to file the final project by June in order to obtain the permits to start construction in the first months of 2023 and start the production of lithium-ion batteries in the second half of 2024. EV cars can be very fast, it is true, but this will certainly be a race against time.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/italvolt-a-che-punto-e-la-gigafactory-di-scaramagno/ on Mon, 09 May 2022 05:23:34 +0000.