Hungary’s €24m state aid for battery copper foil plant

Hungary’s €24m state aid for battery copper foil plant: The European Commission has approved Hungary’s €24 million (£20 million) state aid for the expansion of a battery copper foil facility.

It said that the financing supplied to Volta Energy Solutions — formerly Doosan Energy Solution and a subsidiary of Korea’s Solus Advanced Materials — for the plant in the Közép-Dunántl area complies with EU state aid regulations.

It will assist Volta Energy Solutions’ €206 million (£172 million) investment in facility expansion, with the copper foil — which is often used to create batteries — being specially utilised for batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

The project, which is anticipated to be finished in 2022 and would generate almost 200 direct employment, will increase current manufacturing capacity to about 50,000 tonnes of battery foils, enough for 2.2 million EVs per year after construction.

According to SNE Research, demand for battery foil would increase by more than 40% each year, from 75,000 tonnes in 2018 to 975,000 tonnes by 2025.

“We are pleased that our strategic investment, based on the prediction that the battery foil of the battery for electric vehicles would grow, has been fruitful. We plan to foster the plant into the best battery foil production base with quality and price competitiveness in Europe.” said Vice Chairman Dong Hyeon-su

Hungary’s €24m state aid for battery copper foil plant