In a key step towards electric mobility and emission reduction strategy, Renault Group, a leader and pioneer of the EV market, announced a crucial partnership with Terrafame for the sustainable supply of nickel.
Specifically, both companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the supply of this element, and Renault will secure a significant annual inventory representing up to 15 GWh of capacity.
The cooperation will begin by paying particular attention to sustainability systems and defining detailed metrics for traceability, beyond the solutions currently used for the chemical production for electric vehicle batteries.
Market Leadership
Renault Group is leading the deployment of reusable, low-carbon, higher-performance batteries, while building a unique and leading electric ecosystem in northern France, known as Renault ElectriCity.
Combined with the recent partnership with Vulcan to secure low-carbon Lithium, and the alliance with Veolia & Solvay to recycle battery materials in a closed loop, this new agreement marks a further step towards reducing the environmental footprint of electric vehicles throughout their lifecycle, and towards the goal of carbon neutrality for the company in Europe by 2040.
Sustainability in Figures
“The partnership with Terrafame is an important component towards achieving our commitment to reach a 30% reduction of emissions in our supply chain by 2030,” underlined Gianluca De Ficchy, Executive Vice President of Alliance and General Manager and Chief Procurement Officer of Alliance Purchasing Organization at Renault Group.
He noted that the carbon footprint and traceability of battery chemicals are crucial factors for Renault, so Terrafame has a clear sustainability advantage through a unique production method. “The nickel sulfate carbon footprint produced by Terrafame is more than 60% lower than the industry average,” De Ficchy specified.
Joni Lukkaroinen, CEO of Terrafame, expressed his satisfaction at strengthening the European sustainable battery value chain together with Renault through this partnership, and said he was very impressed by Renault’s level of ambition regarding clean and sustainable transport.
“For Terrafame, this sets the right guidelines for the next decade and could well mean a commitment to supply nickel sulfate for up to 300,000 electric vehicles per year. We look forward to many years of fruitful cooperation to help decarbonize mobility and transportation,” said Lukkaroinen.
Environmentally Friendly Process
The direct partnership between Renault and Terrafame marks a turning point in the materials value chain for battery manufacturing. Terrafame’s “bioleaching”-based production process, which is the extraction of metals from their ores using living organisms, employs approximately 90% less energy in the Nickel Sulfate generation than the industry average.
In addition, Terrafame’s integrated production process begins and ends at one industrial site from mine to battery chemical production. These unique and energy-efficient features allow for a fast track to implement sustainability systems and create full transparency throughout the value chain. In addition to detailed metrics, a supply chain-wide commitment simplifies risk management and pricing mechanisms for all parties involved.
