This unit will employ an additional 100 people, on the site where half a thousand people already work.
This investment of 300 million euros is "the largest" on the site "since its creation", according to the director of electrical activities of ArcelorMittal France, Hugues Baudin.
The project was announced a year ago, before the opening of a public inquiry, which ended on May 12.
With this unit, ArcelorMittal will triple its production capacity in Europe for this steel, qualified as electric because of its strong magnetic properties due to the presence of silicon. It makes it possible to build the parts of electric motors that transform electricity into motion.
Used for a long time in household appliances or wind turbines, this steel is increasingly in demand due to the rapid rise of electric vehicles, with the ban on combustion engines from 2035 in the European Union.
The new unit, named Electryck, will be located near car manufacturers Stellantis and Renault Electricity.
It aims to "meet the needs" of this automotive market, ArcelorMittal said during a press presentation at the end of the public inquiry.
"By 2024 or 2025, Europe will be under-capacity to produce electrical steel," the company said.
This five-line unit, whose elements are fully connected, will be controlled from new digital cockpits, composed of touch screens gathering multiple information on the production process.
It will be supplied with steel by the nearby ArcelorMittal steel plant in Dunkirk.
In a sign that the "Valley of the battery" continues to establish itself in the north of the France, the Taiwanese group ProLogium confirmed last week the installation in Dunkirk of a fourth battery factory for electric vehicles in France.
Also in Dunkirk, the Chinese XTC is to build with the French Orano a plant of components and recycling of batteries for 1.5 billion euros.
© 2023 AFP