CATL to build three battery facilities in China

Major Chinese battery producer Contemporary Amparex Technology (CATL) will build three new production facilities in China, to raise output capacity for power and storage lithium-ion batteries.

The firm will invest up to 12bn yuan ($1.86bn) to build a power and storage lithium-ion battery production complex in Zhaoqing city, southeast China's Guangdong province. This is the first phase of the project, with construction taking at least two years.

The company plans to invest up to Yn12bn to build the fifth and sixth phases of its power battery production complex in Yibin city, southwest China's Sichuan province. Construction will be completed in two phases, with up to 26 months each.

CATL will also invest up to Yn5bn to expand capacity at its power battery plant in Ningde city, southeast China's Fujian province. The project will be developed in two phases, with the first expected to be completed in a year. The second phase will start construction within a year after the first phase is completed

Other details including the capacity of the new facilities were undisclosed.

CATL has been ramping up output capacity in recent years to meet buoyant demand from the fast-growing new energy vehicle market. It in December decided to invest Yn39bn to raise output capacity for power and storage lithium-ion batteries in the Fuding city in Fujian province, Liyang city in Jiangsu province and Yibin city in Sichuan province.

The firm has been supplying lithium-ion power batteries to US electric vehicle producer Tesla since July.

China's newly installed volume of power batteries rose to 63.6GWh in 2020, up by 2.3pc from a year earlier, with production falling by 2.3pc to 83.4GWh last year, according to China's automotive manufacturers association.