Northumberland-based battery cell manufacturer Britishvolt will build its £200m battery cell scale-up facility in the West Midlands.
Through a partnership with logistics real estate operator Prologis, Britishvolt will use the Hams Hall facility to research new cell formats and electro chemistries.
The site will accelerate its output of production-ready cells, which will then be manufactured at scale at its Northumberland ‘Gigaplant’ from 2024.
According to Britishvolt, the Hams Hall location will create 150 “highly skilled” technology jobs and create a so-called “Battery Corridor” that includes a ‘golden triangle’ of Warwick Manufacturing Group, Advanced Propulsion Centre and UK Battery Industrialisation Centre.
“I am delighted to see Britishvolt lead the UK’s journey into re-industrialisation with the first full-scale battery gigaplant,” said Paul Franklin, property director, Britishvolt.
“The new R&D and scale-up facilities announced today will help the UK build on its home-grown battery intellectual property and level up the country ready for the energy transition.”
Practical completion of the development is anticipated in July with fit out and equipment installation to be undertaken through to end Q3 2023.
The construction for the facilities will be net-zero carbon and when operating will have an A-grade EPC rating.
Britishvolt has already confirmed MoUs with Lotus Cars and Aston Martin Lagonda, which, alongside other commitments to be announced shortly, have cumulative demand in excess of 7GWh in 2024 and 2025, ahead of 38GWh factory capacity supplied annually from the site in Northumberland.
The release of an official A-sample battery cell to customers is scheduled in 2022 and the company is in discussions with the Canadian government regarding expansion plans in the country.
Earlier this year Britishvolt raised £40m from Glencore and, earlier this month, acquired German battery cell developer and manufacturer EAS to help it develop and scale up its larger 46xx cell formats
