Major Spanish industrial companies have announced the launch of Battchain, a consortium formed to accelerate Europe’s green economic recovery by responding to the increasing demand for batteries.
The consortium will seek investment of €1.2bn to deploy its industrial projects mainly across Spain’s automotive sector. To deliver Europe’s green economic recovery, the projects will create more than 1,700 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs, with turnover expected to reach €2.4bn in 2030. Battchain will also eliminate 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Led by the world’s largest sustainable energy accelerator, EIT InnoEnergy, Battchain brings together leading energy and industrial players Extremadura Mining, Ente Vasco de la Energia, CIC EnergiGUNE, Fagor Ederlan, Ingeteam, SODENA, Scoobic, and BeePlanet Factory.
Projects in the consortium include the lithium extraction and refining of 15,000 annual tonnes of lithium hydroxide, a 10GWh solid state cell factory, a 120,000 pack annual capacity battery assembly plant, an assembly factory for up to 20,000 last mile electric vehicles and a battery collection, recycling and second life plant.
Mikel Lasa, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy Spain, said: “As the second largest car producer in Europe, it is critical that we instigate and accelerate a profound transformation of Spain’s automotive industry. This cannot be done in isolation. If Spain wants to retain its automotive standing across Europe, collaborative action is needed now.”
Spain’s battery demand will reach 75GWh by 2030, with 90% of that coming from the automotive sector. By 2030, at least half of the vehicles produced in Spain will be electric, with 28GWh of batteries required annually for these vehicles.
Battchain will provide a backbone for the national territory with industrial plants in Andalusia, the Basque Country, Extremadura, and Navarre, which will also benefit other regions that already have automobile manufacturing plants. The consortium has submitted an expression of interest to the Program for the Promotion of Industrial Competitiveness and Sustainability projects published last December by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
Lasa said: “Through our work leading the European Battery Alliance, we saw the potential of creating a Spanish value chain to accelerate change. We have proven success in driving forward these types of projects to commercialisation by connecting partners with the right funds and market support. The players we’ve brought together already have economically viable projects in development – making this an initiative that will catapult real change in Spain’s automotive industry.”
