It may just be two years old, but French industrial startup Verkor is about to make a major power play. With demand for electric vehicles surging across Europe, the company is building a “gigafactory” with capacity to equip 300,000 EVs with lithium-ion batteries per year.⁠ ⁠ Joining smaller facilities planned in the area, the 150-hectare (371-acre) plant in Dunkirk could transform France into a hotspot for EV battery cell production—and jumpstart its sagging manufacturing sector. “Building a ‘Battery Valley’ will allow us to pool our efforts, resources and skills,” says Olivier Dufour, Verkor co-founder. ⁠ ⁠ Number 17 on our #MIP2022 list, the €1.6 billion project is funded by Renault Group�, energy think tank EIT InnoEnergy�, real estate developer Groupe IDEC�, automation specialists Schneider Electric� and the French government. Construction is slated to start next year—generating up to 1,200 direct jobs and more than 3,000 indirect jobs during the project’s first phase.⁠ ⁠ 📷: Verko...