Schneider Electric signs agreement to develop smart manufacturing technologies for ProLogium’s battery gigafactory in France
Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, signed a strategic agreement with the Taiwanese-based battery manufacturer ProLogium.
Schneider Electric and ProLogium will combine their expertise to develop smart manufacturing and energy management systems and optimize the production of Lithium Ceramic Batteries in ProLogium’s gigafactory in Dunkirk (northern France). This technology partnership focuses on digitizing the gigafactory’s power distribution and industrial automation systems to improve the operational efficiency of the manufacturing and quality processes, reducing both the production facility’s energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Economic Transition Scenario forecasts that fully electric vehicles will represent 81% of all cars sold in Europe by 2038. To meet this demand, solutions that reduce energy and production scrap, cut carbon emissions, optimize process performance, and integrate battery recycling schemes will strengthen Europe’s emerging battery manufacturing value chain. ProLogium’s manufacturing site in Dunkirk will be a valuable local supplier for the European electric car industry producing Lithium Ceramic Batteries that are more powerful, safer, and quicker to charge than lithium-ion cells and crucially manufactured using France’s decarbonized energy.
Signed in the presence of French Minister for Transport, Patrice Vergriete, this agreement signals the beginning of the planning and design phases of ProLogium’s €5.2 billion factory announced during President Macron’s visit to Dunkirk in May 2023 and which is planned to potentially provide 3,000 jobs in the region by 2030.
“This agreement represents our shared vision for a more sustainable, energy efficient and resilient future built on innovation and electrification,” said Laurent Bataille, Executive Vice President, Schneider Electric France Operations. “While demonstrating the pivotal role that both ProLogium and Schneider Electric play in the French government’s green re-industrialization strategy.”
In January this year, ProLogium inaugurated its Taoyuan gigafactory in Taiwan, that will produce batteries for 26,000 electric vehicles once at full capacity. ProLogium’s Dunkirk factory will commence production in 2027.