The company has acquired exclusive rights to a site in Blyth, Northumberland and intends to begin construction in summer 2021. Lithium-ion batteries will be in production by the end of 2023.
Total investment for Britishvolt’s gigaplant is £2.6 billion, making it the largest industrial investment in the North East since Nissan’s arrival in 1984 and one of the largest-ever industrial investments in the UK. By the final phase of the project in 2027 it will be employing up to 3,000 highly skilled people, producing over 300,000 lithium-ion batteries for the UK automotive industry.
Britishvolt’s gigaplant is widely regarded as being strategically important for the UK automotive industry in order for it to maintain competitive advantage as we accelerate towards an increasingly electrified future.
The Britishvolt gigaplant will be built on a 95-hectare site, formerly the site of the Blyth Power Station. It will use renewable energy, including the potential to use hydro-electric power generated in Norway and transmitted 447 miles under the North Sea via the world’s longest inter-connector from the North Sea Link project.