£2.5bn gigafactory urges Government to boost battery investment
Greenpower Park, the UK’s Centre of Electrification and Clean Energy, is calling on the next UK Government to accelerate domestic battery production to attract global battery manufacturers and their supply chains to invest in the UK.
The site at Coventry Airport, now known as Greenpower Park, has planning consent for a £2.5bn electric vehicle battery factory, expecting to attract supply chain firms. The site is located within the West Midlands Investment Zone.
The Greenpower Park team and Coventry council have said the UK is falling behind countries like the US, France, and Spain in attracting investors.
Richard Moore, Greenpower Park’s battery strategy expert, said: “This is not the first time the UK has faced a resource crisis. We ramped up steel supply in the 1940s and 50s to build and replace military and civil equipment and can draw a parallel from this with battery cell demands today. And if we act now, we can still resolve the crisis.
“The UK has got to get its head out of the sand if it thinks it’s going to hit its battery cell targets. The government and stakeholders have been slow to react to battery cell supply demands. If the next government doesn’t take action, there will be a major risk to the security of energy supply, which will leave the nation in a perilous state.”
Currently, the UK has one operational gigafactory, Envision AESC, which produces up to 6 GWh of battery capacity annually.
The Faraday Institution’s 2022 gigafactory report states that the UK automotive industry alone will need 100 GWh per year by 2030, doubling to 200 GWh by 2040.
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change at Coventry City Council said: “The current Government has made some progress, but we need the next Government to go even further to accelerate the UK’s growing battery sector. From automotive to energy storage, there is an urgent need to secure global battery manufacturers along with the associated supply chain to meet the growing demand for electrification in the UK.
“Electrification, across all sectors, is of strategic importance for the UK and it needs to be part of the next Government’s broader industrial strategy which will ensure that potential investors consider the UK in the future.”
