Europe is seeking to lure electric vehicle (EV) battery makers to build factories in the region as the bloc – home to carmakers such as Volkswagen and Stellantis – tries to cut its dependency on Asia and win a green subsidy race with the United States.
Below is an overview of factories in Europe, including annual capacity and production timelines where available.
BELGIUM
PLANNED
* SENEFFE-MANAGE: Avesta Battery and Energy Engineering expects its 40-million-euro ($43.7 million) plant to be fully operational before 2030, with aimed capacity of 3 GWh.
BRITAIN
PLANNED
* COVENTRY: The city approved a site for a potential plant but an investor is yet to be found. The pitch includes a 60 GWh output with production start in 2025.
* SUNDERLAND: China’s Envision is building a factory near Nissan’s plant. It will start operation in 2025 with capacity of 12 GWh.
* N/A: Nanotech Energy plans to build a 1-billion-pound ($1.3 billion) factory and is investigating seven sites in the UK as a final location.
* N/A: Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Group will build a gigafactory in Britain for 4 billion pounds ($5.2 billion), the company and the government said on July 19. The government said the factory would create up to 4,000 jobs. The BBC had reported in May, without citing sources, that the plant would be set in Somerset.
CZECHIA
OPERATING
* HORNÌ SUCHÀ: MES targets capacity of 15 GWh at the plant worth 1.4 billion Czech crowns ($64.8 million). It opened in September 2020 with an initial production capacity of 200 MWh per year.
FINLAND
PLANNED
* KOTKA: Finnish Minerals Group in April signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a potential partner for a cell production plant. Environmental impact assessment for the plant, based on two options with 27 GWh and 40 GWh capacity, is expected to be completed by summer 2024.
FRANCE
OPERATING
* QUIMPER: Blue Solutions’s factory in Ergue-Gaberic, near Quimper, was inaugurated in 2013. The company, subsidiary of Bollore SE, says on its website its two factories, located in France and Canada, have annual capacity of 1.5 GWh. It was not immediately clear how much of this was in France.
PLANNED
* DOUAI: China’s Envision is investing up to 2 billion euros in an AESC gigafactory near the “Renault ElectriCity” EV hub. The plant will have capacity of 9 GWh in 2024 and targets 24 GWh by 2030.
* DOUVRIN: Automotive Cells Company (ACC) – a joint venture of Stellantis, Mercedes Benz and TotalEnergies – plans to spend over 7 billion euros on three gigafactories in Europe, with capacity of 40 GWh each by 2030. The Douvrin plant was inaugurated on May 30, with operations starting in the second half of 2023.
* DUNKIRK: Taiwan’s ProLogium is working with the French government to secure subsidies for a 5.2-billion-euro battery factory. Production is slated to begin in 2026, with aimed capacity of 48 GWh.
* DUNKIRK: French start-up Verkor plans to build a factory in Dunkirk with targeted capacity of 12 GWh. Renault would be its biggest client.
GERMANY
OPERATING
* DOBELN: Launched by Swiss Blackstone Resources at the end of 2021, the plant will scale up to 5 GWh capacity between 2023 and 2024.
* ERFURT: CATL, which has been expanding rapidly outside its home market China, is ramping up production at its plant near Erfurt, aiming to raise the capacity from 8 GWh to 14 GWh.
* LUDWIGSFELDE: U.S.-based Microvast’s plant has capacity of 1.5 GWh and targets up to 6 GWh.
PLANNED
* HEIDE: Northvolt will invest 3-5 billion euros in a plant as long as subsidies are approved. One source estimated the subsidies at more than 600 million euros.
* KAISERSLAUTERN: One of ACC’s three 40 GWh gigafactories is expected to start operations in 2025 in Kaiserslautern.
* LAUCHHAMMER, UBERHERRN: China’s Svolt will invest up to 2 billion euros in two plants. The first one in Uberherrn is set to start production at the end of 2023, with aimed capacity of 24 GWh. The second one in Lauchhammer will be operational in 2025, with targeted capacity of 16 GWh.
* SALZGITTER: Volkswagen plans to build six plants in Europe totaling 240 GWh capacity by 2030. Production at the first plant will start in 2025 with aimed capacity of 40 GWh.
* TUBINGEN: Cellforce plans to launch a 100 MWh plant in 2024.
HUNGARY
OPERATING
* GOED: Samsung’s 1.2-billion-euro factory with capacity of 30 GWh has been in operation since 2018.
PLANNED
* DEBRECEN: China’s CATL is building a 7.3-billion-euro plant with aimed capacity of 100 GWh. Construction started in 2022 and should last no more than 64 months.
* DEBRECEN: China’s EVE Power will spend 1 billion euros to build a 28 GWh plant, Hungary’s foreign minister said in May.
ITALY
PLANNED
* SCARMAGNO, ROMANO CANAVESE: Italvolt expects the 3.5-billion-euro plant to be operational by 2024, with aimed capacity of 45 GWh.
* TEREVOLA: FAAM expects its 570-million-euro plant to be operational by 2024, with targeted capacity of 8 GWh per year.
* TERMOLI: ACC will spend more than 2 billion euros to build the 40 GWh plant, set to open in 2026 and to reach full capacity in 2030, under its plan for three gigafactories.
LATVIA
PLANNED
* RIGA: Anodox had said its 50-million-euro plant should be fully operational by 2022. Reuters was unable to immediately confirm its status.
NORWAY
PLANNED
* MO I RANA: FREYR expects its $1.7-billion plant to be fully operational by 2028, with aimed capacity of 83 GWh.
* ARENDAL: Morrow expects the first of four expansion stages of its 470-million-euro plant to be operational by 2024, with aimed capacity of 32 GWh.
* HAUGALAND: Beyonder expects its plant to be fully operational by 2024, with aimed capacity of 10 GWh.
* TRONDHEIM: Elinor invested 10 billion Norwegian crowns ($939.3 million) in a plant set to be operational by 2026, with targeted capacity of about 40 GWh by 2030.
POLAND
OPERATING
* WROCLAW: LG Chem’s plant started production in 2017, with capacity of 100,000 batteries. It aims to reach capacity of 115 GWh by 2025.
PORTUGAL
PLANNED
* SINES: China Aviation Lithium Battery Technology (CALB) expects its factory to start operating by end-2025 at 15 GWh capacity, which it may increase to 45 GWh in a second phase in 2028.
SERBIA
PLANNED
* SUBOTICA: ElevenES expects its 1-billion-euro plant to be fully operational by 2027, with aimed capacity of 48 GWh.
* N/A: InoBat plans to build a gigafactory with funding of 419 million euros from the government. It will be operational by 2025, with initial capacity of 4 GWh and aimed capacity of 32 GWh.
SLOVAKIA
PLANNED
* BRATISLAVA: InoBat’s 45 MWh pilot line will open later in 2023.
SPAIN
PLANNED
* BASQUE COUNTRY: BASQUEVOLT plans to invest more than 700 million euros for a plant, aiming to produce 10 GWh by 2027.
* NAVALMORAL DE LA MATA: Spain signed a deal in July 2022 with China’s Envision to build a plant worth 2.5 billion euros, with planned capacity of 30 GWh.
* SAGUNTO: Volkswagen and partners said in 2022 they would invest 10 billion euros in a 40 GWh plant with production set to start by 2026.
* VALLADOLID: InoBat said in October 2022 it had signed a declaration of intent with the Spanish government to set up a 32 GWh factory worth 3 billion euros.
SWEDEN
OPERATING
* SKELLEFTEA: Northvolt’s factory has been operating since 2021 and aims to achieve capacity of 40 GWh by 2025.
PLANNED
* BORLANGE: Northvolt expects its plant to start production in 2025 and be fully operational by 2030, with aimed capacity of 150 GWh.
* GOTHENBURG: Northvolt spent 30 billion Swedish crowns ($2.8 billion) in a plant set to start production by 2025, with aimed capacity of 50 GWh.
SWITZERLAND
PLANNED
* FRAUENFELD: SCB expects the plant worth 775 million Swiss francs ($868 million) to be fully operational before 2030, with aimed capacity of 7.6 GWh.
($1 = 0.9159 euros)
($1 = 0.7712 pounds)
($1 = 21.6060 Czech crowns)
($1 = 10.6459 Norwegian crowns)
($1 = 10.6665 Swedish crowns)
($1 = 0.8927 Swiss francs)
(Compiled by Alessandro Parodi, Tiago Brandao and Matteo Allievi; editing by Barbara Lewis and Milla Nissi)
