Work starts on Northumberland Gigaplant

Having gained planning permission in July, Britishvolt is now the second Gigaplant site in Europe to start construction.

Once complete, the site will bring around 3,000 direct jobs and 5,000 associated jobs in the supply chain.

Britishvolt is the UK’s leading investor in lithium-ion battery cell technologies and has instructed ISG to commence enabling works for the steel-framed Gigaplant near Blyth.

Richard McDonell, Britishvolt Project Director said: “This is a historic day as it marks the start of construction on the UK’s premier Gigaplant, which is a landmark event for UK manufacturing and the automotive industry.”

“This is an exciting announcement and marks the tangible start and progress of the main factory building where we will be producing some of the world’s lowest carbon, sustainable battery cells to help accelerate the transition to a low carbon future.”

Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council said: “It’s great to see work starting on the ground on a site which the council and partners have been actively engaged on in recent years to make it an attractive proposition for investors.

“Since we granted planning permission, work behind the scenes has continued at pace, so to see enabling works getting underway is fantastic – not just for the council and Britishvolt, but for everyone in the county.”

Once at full capacity, the Gigaplant will have a production capability equating to approximately enough cells for around 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs per year, intended primarily for the automotive industry. It will be the first large full cycle Gigaplant in the UK.