Battery park bid charged up with £18m grant
PLANS for a new £126 million battery park in the West Midlands which is aiming to supercharge the region’s automotive industry has received an £18 million grant to support its construction.
The West Midlands Combined Authority has backed the new UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) in Coventry, which is set to grow industrial battery manufacturing capability in the UK.
The authority has approved the repayable grant to help ensure the centre has the latest technology to attract top-tier automotive manufacturers and R&D companies.
The 193,750 sq ft facility is due for completion in March and will initially employ around 100 staff, with additional jobs generated in the supply chain and further employment and training opportunities in the future.
A consortium comprising Coventry City Council, Coventry and Warwickshire LEP and Warwick Manufacturing Group were awarded £80 million by the Government in 2017 with a further £28 million confirmed in May to support the scheme.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “UKBIC aims to put the West Midlands at the forefront of global battery research as the automotive market moves away from polluting fuels like petrol and diesel and towards a greener, cleaner future using battery technology.
“This investment by the combined authority will help ensure UKBIC features the very best, cutting-edge manufacturing technology, which in turn will attract automotive manufacturers and leading research scientists to the region to scale-up groundbreaking technology.
“Here in the West Midlands, we are building a cutting-edge electric vehicle cluster including UKBIC and JLR’s Castle Bromwich plant where the new all- electric XJ will be built.
“This cluster is helping to position our region as the global leader in autonomous vehicles, however in order to take the next step we have to build a gigafactory.
“This factory would mass produce the state-of-the-art batteries that UKBIC will scale up, and I would implore the Government to continue to back our plans.”