The development of the UK’s first-ever full-scale lithium-ion Gigaplant has commenced as Britishvolt completed their groundbreaking ceremony at their Northumberland site.
The new lithium-ion Gigaplant will be located in what used to be the Blyth Power Station coal stocking yard in Cambois, southeast Northumberland. The groundbreaking ceremony – the celebration of the first day of construction, where the first ground is dug up – signifies the inception of what will be the most crucial industrial revolution of our lifetime, mass-producing electric vehicles, of which Britishvolt will be at the forefront.
Achieving a green transition from harmful emission producing cars and transport to electric vehicles will be vital in the UK achieving its ambitious net-zero targets. Now, Britishvolt has paralleled these green ambitions, setting to work on providing state-of-the-art infrastructure to achieve the countries carbon-neutral goals, the creation of the UK’s first-ever full-scale lithium-ion Gigaplant has begun.
Kickstarting the green industrial revolution
Britishvolt has invested 2.6bn into the revolutionary project, a venture that will create jobs for 3,000 skilled workers and an additional 5,000 jobs in the electric vehicle battery supply chain. When completed, the lithium-ion Gigaplant will produce around 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs per year, with the project having a total capacity of 30GWh by late 2017.
Speaking at the ceremony, Glen Sanderson, the leader of the Northumberland County council, expressed his excitement for what the Britishvolt Gigaplant can bring to the region and its wider impact on the UK.
He said: “This is a hugely important day for the county, for our residents, and for the country as a whole. It’s amazing to think that in this very bleak landscape here, there will soon be a Gigaplant that produces what we need to power our motor vehicles in the next 50 to 100 years. It really is a wonderful thing that we are the chosen one, that we are the county where this is going to happen.
“It’s not just the immediate benefit of this factory; it’s the confidence that this will give to other inward investors to come here and invest in Northumberland as well. I see Northumberland in a few years as not just the beautiful county that people are welcome to come and visit, but also a place where real jobs exist and where new job opportunities are being created almost daily.”
Britishvolt: A groundbreaking ceremony for groundbreaking technology
As the first shovel entered the Northumberland landscape during the ceremony, Orral Nadjari, the founder and CEO of Britishvolt, reflected on what has been an arduous process in reaching the commencement of the Gigaplant and how he is just as pleased with its Northumberland location as the residents are to be home to it.
He said: “We are here to put the first shovel in the ground at our groundbreaking ceremonial event here in the northeast for Britishvolt and the first Gigaplant in the UK. It is a very exciting time; we have made a lot of bold statements in the last 12 months, and today, firstly, and foremost, we would like to celebrate those bold statements. We want to celebrate the team, the accomplishments that they’ve made and the effort from every single person here in the northeast, as well as all of our stakeholders; it is absolutely brilliant to be stood here today.”
This monumental investment and project from Britishvolt demonstrate the ambition required to attain the UK’s net-zero goals whilst simultaneously creating job opportunities and career paths in an emerging and dynamic sector. The Gigaplant will bring trade to the region and puts the UK on the map as an industry leader in electric vehicle battery production, sparking the most significant paradigm shift in British automotive history, the green industrial revolution.
