Morocco has put Spain’s electric car industry on notice. The country signed a $6.8 billion deal with China’s Gotion High-Tech to build Africa’s first battery gigafactory in Kenitra, just north of Rabat. The plant is set to supply batteries to Moroccan and southern European carmakers, putting Spanish battery projects in Valencia, Zaragoza, and Extremadura under pressure.
Gotion High-Tech, through its local branch Gotion Power Morocco, is building the factory inside Kenitra’s Atlantic Free Zone. Stellantis and Renault already assemble up to 700,000 vehicles a year in this corridor. The gigafactory will start with a capacity of 10 GWh a year, enough for more than 100,000 electric cars or to store extra energy from large solar parks. The plan is to ramp up to 100 GWh, which would put Kenitra in the same league as the biggest battery plants in Europe and Asia. The investment agreement was signed in Rabat in June 2024, with a commitment to create 17,000 jobs, including 2,300 direct positions in the first phase.
The Kenitra plant will use LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery technology. This chemistry builds the cathode right into the cell, cutting costs and improving heat safety. LFP batteries don’t pack quite as much energy as NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) types, but for mass-market electric cars and stationary storage, Kenitra’s basic targets, they are the most cost-effective choice right now.
China’s strategy is to move battery production closer to Europe, cut shipping costs and supply car factories from just across the Strait of Gibraltar. Kenitra is only 15 kilometers from Algeciras, Spain’s southernmost port. That makes it a direct competitor to Spanish battery projects still in the planning stage.
Morocco is aiming higher than its traditional mainstays, such as fishing and farming. The country is expanding the port of Nador to compete with Algeciras and Alicante, while building an industrial network of parts suppliers and direct shipping routes to the Mediterranean and Atlantic. It also benefits from EU trade deals and labor costs much lower than Europe’s. Stellantis, for example, plans to more than double its Kenitra output to 535,000 vehicles a year by 2025, focusing on small electric cars such as the Citroën Ami, Opel Rocks-e, and Fiat Topolino. SiliconValley.ma and Renewable Watch report that the gigafactory’s total investment could reach up to 65 billion dirhams as the project expands in future phases, making it one of the continent’s largest battery investments. The African Development Bank has approved a €100 million loan for the project, with the possibility of mobilizing an additional €141 million from other partners.
Khalid Qalam, who leads Gotion Power Morocco, says batteries from Kenitra will mainly go to Morocco’s car plants and southern Europe through existing supply chains, including Spain. The project has a €100 million loan from the African Development Bank, with another €141 million expected from partner institutions.
Spain’s own gigafactory plans are still at an early stage. PowerCo, Volkswagen’s battery arm, is building a plant in Sagunto (Valencia) with an initial capacity of 40 GWh, expandable to 60 GWh, but production won’t start before 2026. Stellantis and CATL have started work in Figueruelas (Zaragoza) on a 50 GWh plant, with test cells due at the end of that year. Envision AESC is preparing a 30 GWh plant in Navalmoral de la Mata (Extremadura), targeting the second half of 2027. Gotion also has a project in Valladolid, a €940 million plant with recycling and cathode integration, but construction hasn’t begun yet.
Gotion is now pursuing projects on both sides of the Strait, in Morocco and Spain. The competition is within the company: which plant opens first, secures the best supply deals and establishes the leading supply chain.
Spain is not about to lose its car industry overnight. It remains a major player in Europe, but the bigger risk is structural. If Kenitra starts securing low-cost electric models, battery contracts and the most profitable parts of the value chain before Spanish plants are up and running, Spain’s long experience and strong supplier networks may not be enough to keep production at home.
Spain’s strengths, including deep production know-how, full access to the EU single market, a strong supplier base and technical talent, are real. But they need defending. That means faster permits, cheaper energy and targeted training, along with electric models that make it worthwhile to keep factories in Spain. As the industry shifts to electric, whoever controls the battery supply will decide which factories survive. Africa’s first battery gigafactory now has a clear address: Kenitra, Morocco.
Spain’s electric car sector has seen bold moves before, as reported earlier with the Liux BIG’s pre-launch reservations. Backed by Chinese investment and multilateral support, Morocco’s project is moving faster and on a bigger scale, marking a new phase in the region’s race for electric mobility.
