Arkema invests €10 million to triple its global battery R&D center in the Lyon region
The specialty chemicals group announced an expansion project for its global center of excellence dedicated to batteries, located in Oullins-Pierre-Bénite. The operation is part of the strengthening of the group's international network of research laboratories across the entire battery value chain.
Tripling of surface area and modernization of infrastructure
Arkema announced on October 1, 2026 a €10 million expansion project for its Global Battery Center of Excellence, located in Oullins-Pierre-Bénite, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. According to the group, the investment reflects its strategy of continuous strengthening of its research capabilities in advanced battery materials.
The center's footprint will be tripled and its research infrastructure will be modernized, including increased digitalization of R&D activities. The site, located within the Rhône-Alpes Research Center, will see its role consolidated as Arkema's global reference platform for the development of advanced materials for current batteries and next-generation batteries under development.
An R&D network combining France, Asia and the Americas
This expansion follows the inauguration in Normandy in September 2025 of a laboratory dedicated to the manufacture of solvent-free battery electrodes, as well as several investments in Asia and on the American continent. The network combines expertise developed in France with that of the group's research centers in China, South Korea, Japan and the United States.
According to Arkema's Chief Technology Officer, Armand Ajdari, the investment constitutes a step in the group's ambition to support the evolution of the battery market, by equipping its teams with tools designed to develop, with its customers, materials contributing to the performance of future batteries. The project benefited from support from the Research Tax Credit and the French State under the France 2030 program.
