A new EV battery factory in north-east England will deliver over 1,000 “high-quality, well-paid jobs” to the region.
Currently, the UK only has one gigafactory – in Sunderland, run by Chinese-owned firm AESC since 2012. The factory supplies the local Nissan plant and has an annual output of 1.8GWh, enough to power around 30,000 EVs.
Construction of the second gigafactory officially got under way in December 2024 and is located at the same site as the first. It is also run by AESC and will have a capacity of 12GWh.
This site is at Nissan, AESC UK and Sunderland City Council’s EV36Zero electric vehicle (EV) hub at Sunderland’s International Advanced Manufacturing Park, which includes EV manufacture, battery production and a renewable energy microgrid.
According to AESC, this second gigafactory will be powered by 100% net zero carbon energy, “aligning with our company’s global commitment to sustainability”.
The new factory will produce lithium-ion batteries designed to be directly used by...