Quebec battery industry | Heavy machinery gets busy in Bécancour

The ceremonial groundbreaking has not yet taken place, but heavy machinery is busy in the Bécancour industrial and port park, the cradle of the Quebec battery industry. In this race against time, the complex of General Motors (GM) and POSCO is about to take shape while other preparatory work is about to start.

Without fanfare, south of Highway 30, excavators and trucks have been busy for weeks on the land that is to house the cathode materials plant – the main element of a lithium-ion battery – which will be operated by the American manufacturer and the South Korean chemical giant.

“They will be pouring concrete in the coming weeks, specifies in an interview the president and general manager of the Société du parc industrielle et port de Bécancour (SPIPB), Donald Olivier, in an interview with The Press. The drums industry is like a race against time. They think it’s worth saving time on the schedule with winter work. »

South of Highway 30, which runs through this industrial park located in Centre-du-Québec, GM and POSCO own land with an estimated area of ​​3.75 million square feet (348,189 square meters). . The tandem has an option to expand its footprint. The work is being carried out by the Quebec construction giant Pomerleau.

According to the deed of sale, the transaction has been official since December 19. The price paid by the buyers was 21 million. The works began on November 7, they should be spread over three years and the bill is estimated at 120 million. The site should provide work for 300 people.

Place for businesses

In 2022, the SPIPB – a state-owned company – began to prepare the ground in order to respond to companies in the sector. The industrial park offers access to a deep-water port as well as railway facilities, but the southern part, which will accommodate players in the Quebec battery industry, must be developed.

We are talking about the development of service roads, the water network, sewers and the link with the railway. This work, also carried out by Pomerleau, retained as site manager by the SPIPB, should cost around 350 million. Some 40 million have been deployed so far.

If the pace of work slows down this winter, the state-owned company would like to start extending the railway line south of Highway 30 over a distance that could vary between four and six kilometres, explains Mr. Olivier. The work will be funded by SPIPB and an agreement should be reached with the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) to allow it to operate the section – a different model since the rail carrier would not own these rail assets .

“But it will still be quite soft this winter for the work of the SPIPB, underlines Mr. Olivier. The trucks, shovels and construction trailers that are there [dans le parc industriel], these are not my installations. »

Other construction sites

As a first step, Nemaska ​​Lithium – 50% owned by the Quebec state – recently became the owner of the 4.9 million square feet (454,360 square meters) land where its lithium hydroxide production plant will be built. , a key project in the sector whose commissioning is scheduled for 2025. The site is located southwest of the intersection of Highway 30 and Chemin Louis-Riel. The price paid is 3.5 million. However, it does not take into account certain services, such as infrastructure, as well as other costs (environmental studies and procedures for obtaining permits).

In a few weeks, we should proceed with the deforestation phase. The company is still awaiting its permit to begin development work on the land.

At Nouveau Monde Graphite, which aims to transform graphite into a product used in particular by manufacturers of anodes – a component of the battery found in electric vehicles – the year will be devoted to preliminary work.

” The boom [pour les travaux] should take place next year, says the company’s vice-president of communications, Julie Paquet. Nothing should come out of the ground [à Bécancour] This year. »

Another large cathode maker, the German chemical group BASF, also announced its intention to settle in Bécancour last year. Unlike the team formed by GM and POSCO, the multinational does not yet own the land it covets in the industrial park. The Legault government has still not specified the extent of the financial support that will be offered to these two major projects.