16 January 2023 – Arcadis, the leading global design & consultancy organization for natural and built assets, has been commissioned to support the planning and project management of one of Europe’s largest gigafactories for battery cell production for electric vehicles, at the former Opel site in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The builder and operator is Automotive Cells Company (ACC); a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies’ subsidiary Saft.
The new gigafactory will be built on a 34-hectare site adjacent to the Opel component plant. When fully completed in 2030, it will include three production lines. In 2025, the first of three planned production lines with a size of just under 700 x 100 meters and an initial capacity of 13.4 GWh will go into operation. By 2030 capacity will reach 40 GWh; enough to supply batteries to over 600,000 vehicles per year.
To minimize ecological impact, ACC is repurposing a former industrial site. As part of the site preparations, Arcadis provided environmental due diligence, decontamination and deconstruction services for 1.3 million m³ of converted space, managing approval procedures in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act – one of Germany’s key areas of environmental protection law.
Arcadis has now also been awarded the planning and project management package for the new gigafactory. This includes leading the Project Management Office (PMO), which coordinates project processes to achieve key objectives in terms of deadlines, costs, and quality. Arcadis is also leading the integration and continuous improvement of planning and execution processes; and monitors cost efficiency in areas including procurement, safety, construction management and logistics.
Martijn Karrenbeld, Global Director for Industrial Manufacturing, Arcadis: “We are seeing massive investments in the gigafactory market globally and, having worked with ACC from the earliest stages of this project, have been able to draw on decades of international experience in delivering large-scale manufacturing facilities, particularly for the automotive industry, all around the world. This, combined with strong local expertise and understanding of the procedural and physical requirements needed, has helped to bring this complex, large-scale project to life. From sustainability to energy efficiency, the ACC gigafactory is not only groundbreaking in ecological terms but will also deliver major economic and social benefits for the region.”
Jean-Baptiste Pernot, COO of ACC: “ACC is focusing on its own production for two main reasons. First, we want to build sustainably producing “green” factories that operate using renewable raw materials and renewable energies, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of our batteries by up to 35 percent. Secondly, ACC wants to avoid over dependence on batteries and companies from the Asian region, as well as reduce costs.”
ENDS
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ABOUT ARCADIS
Arcadis is the leading global design & consultancy organization for natural and built assets. We maximize impact for our clients and the communities they serve by providing effective solutions through sustainable outcomes, focus and scale, and digitalization. We are 35,000 people, active in more than 70 countries that generate €4.2 billion in gross revenues (pro forma, based on 2021 FY results). We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve quality of life in cities around the world. www.arcadis.com