Two Quebec battery supply chain projects hit the brakes

The expansion of a battery project planned for Bécancour, Que., has been put on hold, and the plant that was supposed to feed it has been cancelled.

Quebec Economy Minister Christine Fréchette says Ultium Cam – a partnership of General Motors and South Korean manufacturer POSCO, has paused the second phase of a project to produce cathode active materials for electric-vehicle batteries.

Vale Base Metals has also confirmed it is cancelling plans for a nickel sulfate plant that would have supplied Ultium Cam.

Fréchette says the decision is part of a global slowdown in the development of the battery supply chain, but she hopes the GM project will be relaunched in the future.

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She says there are still many battery projects that are moving forward in Quebec.

The news, first reported by Radio-Canada, comes shortly after the Quebec government pulled the plug on the Northvolt electric-vehicle battery project near Montreal.