£21m funding tipped to kickstart vital Coventry gigapark

More than £21m has been put on the table to kickstart the delivery of the Coventry and Warwick Gigapark.

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has been recommended to approve £21.038m of funding to Coventry City Council for Greenpower Park – a 5.7m sq ft hub set to create up to 6,000 jobs across battery manufacturing, recycling and research.

Funding will be focused towards installing a 30 MVA power supply, obtaining planning consent, and completing infrastructure design, to make the site development-ready and attract private investment.

It will however result in the closure of Coventry Airport and create uncertainty for businesses currently operating from the site.

In documents ahead of the WMCA’s Investment Zone board meeting on December 5, it says this option was chosen as the most cost-effective way to deliver the site.

It balances accelerating site development by addressing power needs, securing planning, and designing infrastructure whilst keeping public spending within the West Midlands Investment Zone (WMIZ) budget. Public funding will tackle initial barriers, such as upgrading the power supply, whilst private investors will cover remaining development costs in future phases.

A global campaign targeting top battery manufacturers and related sectors is underway to draw investors, with interest already expressed by leading battery manufacturers and innovators.

Greenpower Park will support battery manufacturing ambitions as it’s estimated that the UK will require six gigafactories by 2030 and ten by 2040.

Outline planning has already been secured for Greenpower Park after an initial £1.962m of WMIZ capital funding was approved.

Coventry City Council has been contacted for comment, with no response received.