China’s Gotion investing US$1.3 billion in Morocco EV battery gigafactory

China’s Gotion High-Tech will build Morocco’s first electric vehicle (EV) battery gigafactory at a total outlay of 12.8 billion dirhams (US$1.3 billion), the Moroccan government said.

Gotion, China’s fourth-largest EV-battery maker, is the latest company to invest in EV battery manufacturing in the North African country, which is adapting its growing automotive sector amid rising demand for electric vehicles.

The Moroccan government and Gotion signed an investment deal for the gigafactory, which will have an initial battery capacity of 20 gigawatt hours (GWh), the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

Gotion plans to increase the plant’s capacity to 100GWh, with eventual investment that could amount to US$6.5 billion, the prime minister’s office said.

Morocco’s geographic location close to Europe, its free-trade agreements with key EU and US markets and its existing automotive industry make it attractive to Chinese EV battery makers.

In May, Chinese car battery manufacturers Hailiang and Shinzoom announced plans to set up two separate plants near Tangier, which will produce key EV battery ingredients: copper and anodes respectively.

A month earlier, the Moroccan government gave the go ahead to Chinese EV battery maker BTR New Material Group to build a factory near Tangier to produce key component cathodes.

Another Chinese manufacturer, CNGR Advanced Material, is expected to build a cathode plant in Jorf Lasfar, 100km south of Casablanca, where the government has allocated 283 hectares to the EV battery industry.

The automotive sector topped Morocco’s industrial exports at US$14 billion in 2023, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous year.

Morocco is home to production plants of carmakers Stellantis and Renault with an annual combined production capacity of 700,000 cars as well as a cluster of local suppliers.