Britishvolt, the UK battery company, has received an in principle offer of government funding though the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) for its planned gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland (northern England).
Britishvolt said the government funding has enabled a long-term partnership with Trixtax and abrdn that will deliver £1.7bn in private funding to build the project, shell and core, as well as to develop the associated supplier park. Tritax is described as the leading investor in UK and European logistics real estate and is joining BV in partnership with abrdn’s global real assets and investment capabilities.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Once complete, the factory will produce enough batteries for over 300,000 electric vehicles each year, significantly supporting the UK automotive industry’s transition to a zero emissions future and increased production of electric vehicles.
Alongside private sector investment, the project is set to create 3,000 direct highly-skilled jobs and another 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said in a statement: “Britishvolt’s plan to build a new gigafactory in Northumberland is a strong testament to the skilled workers of the North East and the UK’s place at the helm of the global green industrial revolution.
“Backed by government and private sector investment, this new battery factory will boost the production of electric vehicles in the UK, whilst levelling up opportunity and bringing thousands of new highly-skilled jobs to communities in our industrial heartlands.”
