China MGL constructs power battery plant in Nanjing

Chinese power battery producer RiseSun MGL began construction at the end of September, on the first 12GWh/yr of its power battery plant in Nanjing city, southeast China's Jiangsu province.

The project, with total investment of 1.2bn yuan ($176mn), has planned capacity of 30GWh/yr. Construction of the first phase is scheduled to complete at the end of 2021, while plans for the remaining 18GWh/yr were undisclosed.

RiseSun MGL has capacity of 3GWh/yr in the first phase of its power battery production base in Tianjin, with its second phase of 6GWh/yr under construction. Plans for a third phase of 6GWh/yr are underway.

Strong demand from China's fast-growing new energy vehicle (NEV) sector has prompted power battery producers to ramp up production over the past few years. The Covid-19 outbreak affected demand for power batteries in the first quarter of this year, but the sector has been recovering since the second quarter.

China's newly installed capacity of power batteries rose to 5.1GWh in August, up by 2.2pc from July and by 48.3pc from August 2019, according to China's automotive manufacturers association. August production was 7.4GWh, up by 22.4pc from July and by 11.7pc from a year earlier.

MGL focuses on power batteries in NEVs and energy storage batteries. It works closely with auto manufacturers, including BAIC Motor, Foton, Chery and KingLong Vehicle.