Major jobs hope as Welsh site ‘is preferred’ for £1.4bn batteries gigafactory plan
SOUTH Wales has emerged as the frontrunner for a £1bn-plus investment for a huge new electric vehicle battery plant.
The new facility would create up to 4,000 jobs.
Britishvolt has confirmed it has identified St Athan, where luxury car-maker Aston Martin Lagonda recently opened a new factory, for the proposed gigafactory, which would represent a £1.4bn investment
The company is in discussions with the Welsh Government for the proposed project at the aviation- and automotive-focused Bro Tathan business park.
It has also identified a site in Coventry for the project.
The Welsh Government said: “We have been working with Britishvolt on this project for a significant period of time and we are very pleased they have shortlisted Bro Tathan as a location for its landmark gigafactory.
“We firmly believe that Bro Tathan provides a compelling case, particularly for a company looking to become one of the greenest battery producers worldwide.”
Chief operating officer of BritishVolt Orral Nadjari said the Bro Tathan site was in a prime position to secure the project, which could see production starting in 2023.
He said: “We’re looking to build a ‘gigaplant’ that is roughly 1km long, 500m wide and 30m high, so it’s a huge undertaking, and something as big as that doesn’t really just fit anywhere.
“The direct dialogue that we’ve had with the Welsh Government has been going on now for a couple of weeks, and the readiness and preparedness that they’ve shown us has been extremely interesting, hence now why they’re in the running for our site location.“
BritishVolt recently signed a memorandum of understanding with AMTE Power.
Lars Carlstrom, CEO at Britishvolt, said: “Aligning our objectives with AMTE Power, who are looking to add to their current manufacturing capabilities in the UK, our ambition is to build a 30+gigawatt hour factory with the support of the British Government,
creating up to 4,000 jobs in the process.
“Moving the UK into a low-carbon economy will necessitate the unprecedented electrification of vehicles, and reliance on renewable energy will require extensive battery storage.
“It is costly and carbon-intensive to have lithium ion batteries imported from the Far East, and this gigaplant would cement a solid onshore supply chain to ensure quality and eliminate future uncertainty of supply.”
The selection of the two promising sites was narrowed down from an initial 42 locations.
Mr Carlstrom said Bro Tathan is the preferred choice due to a number of different factors. He praised the work of the Welsh Government, but also said the region meets crucial criteria including import/export accessibility, availability of labour and skilled staff, along with convenient geographical proximity to customers and local industrial companies.
“The sheer scale of this project means our gigafactory will have one of the top three largest single footprints in Europe. Our ambition is to become one of the greenest battery producers worldwide, which will be facilitated through the creation of our very own solar park, ensuring a near-carbon-neutral electricity input,” Mr Carlstrom said.
He said the jobs created will be across a wide range of disciplines and he expects that it will create a local ecosystem of 10,000 to 15,000 further jobs for the wider supply chain. By the third quarter of 2023, Britishvolt plans for the first stage of the plant to be fully functional. At this stage Mr Carlstrom believes between 40% and 60% of the initial £1.2 bn of investment will be injected directly into the chosen community, which will represent a real catalyst for growth in the local economy and the UK.
The battery industry is forecast to be worth £5bn domestically by 2025, and the demand for lithium ion cells across a number of industries, including vehicle electrification, is already increasing dramatically, and risks becoming constrained as the UK Government strives to meet its Road to Zero targets by 2050.
Britishvolt is seeking to fill this gap in the market, but also move to leverage the UK’s world-leading lithium ion battery research development and academic community to ensure the country retains a commercial and technical lead.
The Aston Martin plant in St Athan is the luxury marque’s home of electrification. Despite the announcement last week that the company would be cutting 500 jobs, Aston Martin said the production of its first sport utility vehicle, the DBX, “remains on track for deliveries in the summer and has a strong order book”.
The St Athan factory, which has received about £18m in Welsh Government financial support, is Aston Martin’s second UK factory, and was built at the former RAF hangar facility.