VW says Spanish battery plant will be near Valencia, to open in 2026 (updated)
23/03/2022 10:16
(Adds details, background)
By Joan Faus
BARCELONA, March 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen has picked a site
near Valencia for its planned battery cell plant in Spain and
intends to start operations in 2026 with around 3,000 employees
and annual production of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh), the German
carmaker said on Wednesday.
The world's second-largest automaker has set a target to
build six large battery factories across Europe with partners by
the end of the decade as it strives to become a global leader in
electric vehicles (EV).
Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE has said previously its investment in
the Spanish plant depends on receiving European Union pandemic
relief funds.
The Spanish government last week launched a bidding process
to hand out around 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) - around half
in grants - to promote EV production, with Volkswagen and its
Spanish unit SEAT among the bidders.
The German group said it planned to spend more than 7
billion euros ($7.7 billion), along with external suppliers, on
the Sagunto plant and to start EV production at SEAT's factory
outside Barcelona and at VW's factory outside Pamplona.
Automakers across the world are racing to build battery
plants to supply new electric models. A joint venture between
Stellantis STLA.MI , Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE and TotalEnergies
TTEF.PA said on Wednesday it planned to build a battery
factory in Italy. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VQ1C9
The Sagunto plant will have several partners, but they have
not been decided yet and could include other carmakers, SEAT's
chairman Wayne Griffiths told a press briefing.
It would be the single largest investment in industrial
infrastructure ever in Spain, according to SEAT, which said it
expected "substantial" public aid to support it.
Volkswagen's German battery plant in Salzgitter will be
built by 2025 in partnership with China's Gotion High-Tech
002074.SZ , in which Volkswagen owns a 26% stake.
($1 = 0.9079 euros)
(Reporting by Joan Faus in Barcelona
Additional reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin
Editing by Inti Landauro and Mark Potter)
((joan.faus@thomsonreuters.com;))