French carmaker Renault has signed a cobalt supply deal with Moroccan miner Managem.

Under the terms of the agreement, Managem Group will supply 5,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate per year for a period of 7 years, with first delivery in 2025.

Managem Group plans to invest in the construction of a factory located within the Guemassa industrial complex, Morocco in order to transform cobalt ore into Cobalt sulphate. Through this partnership, Renault Group has guaranteed a significant supply of cobalt sulphate, representing an annual battery production capacity of up to 15 GWh.

Renault noted that Managem Group have optimised energy efficiency at their facilities through the growing use of green energies, more than 80% of which come from wind power.

Renault has said it aims to reduce the carbon footprint of its batteries by 20% by 2025 and by 35% by 2030, compared to 2020.

"Combined with partnership with Vulcan to secure low-carbon lithium and Terrafame for low-carbon nickel sulphate, this agreement marks a new step towards reducing the environmental footprint of electric vehicles and the Group's objective of carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040", said the French firm.

Managem Group is an active member of the Cobalt Committee of the LME (London Metal Exchange) and of the Cobalt Institute (CI). In 2019, the responsible production of Cobalt by Managem Group was confirmed by certification according to the standards of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), as well as by evaluations by NQC and ECOVADIS.