CATL breaks ground on first non-Chinese battery plant in Germany

Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has begun construction of a new €1.8-billion production facility near Erfurt in the central German state of Thuringia - its first outside China.

The facility, covering 700,000 m², is expected to begin production in early 2022 and will have an initial capacity of 14 GWh, with a planned later expansion of as much as 24 GWh.

It has been reported that CATL's choice of location, in the centre of Germany, is due to its proximity to some of Europe's largest auto manufacturers, many of whom it already has partnerships with, including BMW, Renault, Volkswagen, Volvo and Daimler.

At the ground-breaking ceremony, Wolfgang Tiefensee, Thuringia's Economics Minister said: “For Thuringia, the establishment of CATL is one of the most important industrial investments of recent decades.”

CATL’s co-president for Europe, Matthias Zentgraf, said, “We believe that the combination of Germany’s industrial tradition and CATL’s tradition of innovative battery technology will greatly accelerate the electrification of the automotive industry in Europe.”

Politicians, industry leaders and trade unions in Germany have frequently spoken about a homegrown option for battery production, but auto components giant Bosch said it was too risky an investment.

There have also been calls from the European Commission to create a strategic battery value chain, but thus far there has not been much movement on the the issue.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the Chinese investment did not rule out the possibility that German companies could one day develop as a competitor. 

Mrs Merkel also added that given the lack of homegrown companies or others within the EU, it is better for foreign investments to be made in Germany than elsewhere.

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