Britishvolt’s Aussie deal ‘disappointing’
BRiTiSHvOLT’S rescue has been described as a ‘wasted opportunity’ after it emerged that the A ustralian firm buying it plans to focus initially on energy storage rather than the car industry.
Administrators at EY said they had completed the sale of most of the failed battery firm to Recharge industries.
The deal was backed by Lord Botham, the former England cricket captain ( pictured in his playing days), who is now a UkAustralia trade envoy.
Recharge will buy Britishvolt’s battery technology and has until the end of March to complete the purchase of its site near Blyth, Northumberland.
But previous hopes that the site will become a £3.8bn ‘ gigafactory’ making 300,000 batter - ies a year for Uk -made electric cars look set to be thwarted. instead, the new owners will focus on batteries for electric storage and hopes those products will be available by the end of 2025.
it then plans to pro - duce batteries for highperformance sports cars. Professor David Bailey, a car industry expert at Bir - mingham University’s business school, said it was a ‘disappointment’.
‘if they end up buying the site and doing energy storage that is a bit of a wasted opportunity , because it’s ideal for a gigafac - tory,’ he said.
A gigafactory is a plant producing batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale. So far , the Uk has just one – the Envision site in Sunderland, with a capacity of 2GWh (gigawatt hours), rising to 11GWh by 2025.
But Britain would need to achieve a level of 60GWh by 2030 in order to support the manufacturing of 1m vehicles a year, as petrol and diesel cars are phased out, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Britishvolt was seen as crucial in developing those ambitions but suffered a setback when it fell into administration last month, leaving nearly all of its 300 staff redundant. it was valued at £774m in a fundraising last February but reports after it went into administration suggested that it was on sale for about £30m.
EY named Recharge as the preferred bidder for Britishvolt earlier this month and said it considered ‘multiple approaches from interested parties’ and received ‘numerous offers’.
The value of the deal – which is expected to complete within seven days – was not disclosed when it was confirmed yesterday.
‘The sale of the business will help to support the develop - ment of technology and infrastructure needed for the Uk’s energy transition,’ EY said.
Recharge founder David Collard said: ‘W e are thrilled to have been successful in our bid for ownership of Britishvolt. Our plans are the right ones for the local community and the Uk economy.’
He said Britishvolt was ‘shovelready’ but it would be six to 12 months before work started.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the deal showed ‘the Uk’s promise as a battery production location remains undimmed’. He added: ‘We must ensure that Britain attracts more capacity and capability for its automotive sector, as the i ndustry has the potential to be a crucial driver in the Uk’s transition to a zero - emission, growth economy.’