Thai renewable energy company Energy Absolute (EA) said it would expand its electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing capacity to 8 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year to meet growing demand from domestic electric and hybrid vehicle manufacturers.
EA finished building a plant in Chachoengsao last year with an initial capacity of 1 GWh, which supplies batteries mainly to local electric bus makers. A second phase scheduled for completion by the end of 2023 will boost capacity to 4GWh.
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The company recently applied for investment incentives from the country’s investment board to help fund further capacity expansion, to 8GWh annually, to meet growing demand from local automotive and energy storage system (ESS) sectors. The company estimated it needed to spend THB2bn (US$58m) for each additional GWh of extra capacity.
EA said in the long term it expects to establish capacity for 50GWh to help with Thailand’s switch to zero emission vehicles. The government wants half of locally built vehicles to be EVs by 2030, as it aims to become a major regional EV production hub.
Chinese vehicle manufacturers are investing in regional production bases for electric and hybrid vehicles in Thailand, including SAIC Motor, Great Wall Motors, BYD and Hozon.
EA also operates six renewable energy generation plants in Thailand, four solar power farms and two wind farms, with a combined capacity of 386MW.
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