Friday 21 January 2022

Government boosts Blyth gigafactory with £100m

The plan for the development of a massive gigafactory at Blyth, Northumberland has secured around £100 million of government funding.

The giant gigaplant, which will be built at the site of the former coal-fired Blyth Power Station, will have the capacity to produce 300,000 lithium-ion batteries a year.

It will be built by Britishvolt which said that the development required a £2.6 billion total investment.

The gigafactory is set to be operational by the end of 2023.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said: "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."

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: "In this global race between countries to secure vital battery production, this government is proud to make the investment necessary to ensure the UK retains its place as one of the best locations in the world for auto manufacturing."