Government backs Britishvolt gigafactory

In addition, the UK battery company today announced a partnership with Tritax and abrdn that unlocks a further £1.7-2bn in private funding

The project is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs and another 5,000 supply chain jobs. Once built, the factory will produce enough batteries for over 300,000 electric vehicles each year.

The ATF is managed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre on behalf of the government. APC CEO Ian Constance said today’s announcement is a huge boost for UK electric vehicle manufacturing.

“The support from government for the Britishvolt gigafactory sends a strong signal about the importance of developments like this to UK green growth and the creation of highly-skilled jobs,” he said in a statement. “The UK offers an extremely competitive landscape for investment in the full research, development and manufacturing ecosystem for electric vehicle technologies and this has been recognised by Britishvolt.

“Their commitment to this gigafactory development has already had a transformative impact in awakening the battery supply chain sector to opportunities in the UK.”

Peter Rolton, Britishvolt executive chairman, added: “The news is the first step in creating a commercialised battery ecosystem, that perfectly aligns with the existing R&D ecosystem. Britishvolt will be the anchor for attracting further sections of the supply chain, be it refining or recycling, to co-locate on the Britishvolt site. This not only shortens supply chains but also allows for partners to access the abundance of renewable energy on site to truly power low carbon, sustainable battery production.

“It will also allow us to catapult our unique tailormade business proposition on a global scale, with sites already selected for development in other countries.”