The Legault government has agreed to put an additional $35 million into the Nouveau Monde Graphite company, while several companies in the transport electrification sector are in decline.
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The company, which plans to operate a graphite mine and factory to supply electric vehicle manufacturers, also raised another $35 million from a federal fund aimed at supporting decarbonization projects. In return, they receive shares in the company.
This investment comes at a time when many companies in the transportation electrification sector are struggling to raise funds. We only have to mention Lion Électrique, which plans to protect itself from its creditors shortly, and Northvolt, whose project in Quebec is still standing despite the setbacks of the parent company.
Nouveau Monde Graphite is simultaneously developing a graphite mine in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, and a plant to transform this ore into a battery component that powers an electric vehicle.
The two components of this project represent an investment of $1.4 billion, but mining production has not yet started and the battery materials factory, which is to see the light of day in the Bécancour industrial park, is not not built.
Note that Investissement Québec had already invested nearly $50 million in Nouveau Monde Graphite before Tuesday’s announcement, which brings the Quebec state’s support for this company to $85 million.
Authorized by Quebec in 2021, this mining project is not unanimous, and citizens in the sector have deplored the speed and haste with which the government has proceeded in this matter.
For its part, the company has repeatedly assured its commitment to electrification and carbon neutrality, even talking about making a 100% electric mine, a claim criticized by certain organizations, including the Coalition Québec Meilleure Mine, which has already noted that the electrical equipment needed to make this ambition a reality does not yet exist.
