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£4bn flagship battery factory to be built in UK
26/7/2023
News
Tata Sons is to build a global battery cell gigafactory in the UK, one of the largest plants of its kind in Europe, with the capacity to produce 40 GW of cells a year.
The Jaguar Land Rover-owner will build the new plant near Bridgwater, Somerset, with production due to start in 2026.
The plant is expected to produce about 40 GWh of battery cells every year, enough to provide half the UK’s electric vehicle batteries, according to UK Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps. It is forecast to create 4,000 jobs, plus thousands more in the supply chain.
‘Our multibillion-pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to the country, helping to power the automotive sector’s transition to electric mobility, anchored by our own business, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR),’ Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran commented. The new plant will supply batteries to other brands as well as JLR.
Ben Nelmes, Chief Executive of New AutoMotive, called it a ‘welcome vote of confidence’ in the UK’s plans. He said: ‘Ambitious climate policies such as ministers’ plans for a zero emission vehicle mandate should make the UK a more inviting investment opportunity and help to further reduce the cost of electric cars and vans for motorists and businesses.’
However, Suzanna Hinson, Battery Workstreams Lead, Green Finance Institute, warned: ‘While this investment is certainly an important foundation for building a thriving battery industry in the UK, further finance must be crowded in to enable the many innovative businesses that will support this ecosystem to scale.’
She added: ‘The UK government must adopt a holistic and sustainable critical mineral strategy to enable its net zero commitments. There is an opportunity to achieve this through reactivation of production scrap and end-of-life batteries within the UK’s borders.’
