Britishvolt has received an in-principle offer of government funding through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) for the planned gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland.
In addition to, the British battery company today announced a partnership with Tritax and abrdn mobilizing an additional £1.7-2bn in private funding
The project is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs and an additional 5,000 supply chain jobs. Once built, the factory will produce enough batteries for more than 300,000 electric vehicles per year.
The ATF is administered on behalf of the government by the Advanced Propulsion Center. APC CEO Ian Constance said today’s announcement is a huge boost to electric vehicle production in the UK.
“Government support for Britishvolt’s gigafactory sends a strong signal on the importance of such developments for green growth in the UK and the creation of highly skilled jobs,” he said in a statement. “The UK offers an extremely competitive landscape for investment across the entire research, development and production ecosystem for electric vehicle technologies and this has been recognized by Britishvolt.
“Their dedication to this gigafactory development has already had a transformative impact in waking up the battery supply chain industry to opportunities in the UK.”
Peter Rolton, Executive Chairman of Britishvolt, added: “The news is the first step in creating a commercialized battery ecosystem, which is a perfect fit with the existing R&D ecosystem. Britishvolt will be the anchor for attracting other parts of the supply chain, whether refining or recycling, to settle at Britishvolt’s site. This not only shortens supply chains, but also allows partners to access the abundance of renewable energy on site to power truly low-carbon, sustainable battery production.
“It will also enable us to catapult our unique tailor-made business proposition on a global scale, with locations already selected for development in other countries.”
