Indian conglomerate Tata's parent firm Tata Sons will build a 40 GWh/yr battery cell gigafactory in the UK.
Automobile firm Tata Motors and its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will be "anchor customers" for the gigafactory, with supplies to begin in 2026, Tata said in a press release on 19 July.
Tata Sons will invest over £4bn ($5.17bn) to build the gigafactory, with the aim of providing electric mobility and renewable energy storage facilities for customers in the UK and Europe, Tata said. The gigafactory will "establish a competitive green tech ecosystem in the UK at scale", the firm added.
The gigafactory will produce sustainable battery cells and packs for several applications in the mobility and energy sectors, but no further details were provided. The plant will use processes like battery recycling to recover and reuse raw materials, with the aim to maximise its renewable energy mix at 100pc.
"The new gigafactory will provide almost half of the car battery production needed in the UK by 2030," UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said in a tweet. "And it will mean the UK is perfectly positioned to be a global leader in battery technology."
The UK's battery production plans were dealt a blow earlier this year when start-up Britishvolt — which had planned to build the country's first gigafactory — went into administration in January and has since been bought by Australian renewable energy firm Recharge Industries. The country needs 90 GWh/yr of gigafactory capacity by 2030 to meet its EV manufacturing needs, according to the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders (SMMT).
Electric vehicles (EVs) represented over a third of the 66,527 vehicles produced in the UK in April, according to the SMMT. EV output was at 113,315 units over January-April.
The UK government has included a 22pc and 52pc EV mandate for 2024 and 2028, respectively, in its 2022 zero emission vehicle mandate proposal.
