Dunkirk invests €40bn in port overhaul and new Scotland ferry route

Dunkirk plans a massive port transformation over 4 years (already backed by €4 bn in investments): from an old industrial port to a centre of new industry (batteries, green energy, maritime logistics). Core project: €1.7 bn remediation of contaminated soil of a former refinery (destroyed in WWII, reopened 1945, decommissioned 2010). After 5 years of soil cleaning: Technip Energies opens a battery plant and a biofuel-for-aviation facility. ArcelorMittal switches blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces (€850 million in French subsidies). The Verkor car battery plant opens December 2025, in cooperation with Renault Alpine on a hydrogen sports car. Scotland–France ferry route: new passenger/cargo service Rosyth-Dunkirk likely later in 2026 (initially 3x/week, ~20h journey time), the first ferry services in 8 years (last in 2018), passenger service discontinued for 16 years (2010). Operator: possibly DFDS (Denmark). New routes to Scandinavian countries and South America also planned (25% of French pineapples/bananas already via Dunkirk from Colombia). CO2 capture & liquefaction facility for European industrial emissions being developed.