Battery firm Britishvolt has received confirmation of Government funding that will help it build a 3,000-job gigafactory on the Northumberland coast.
The company had been pledged support thought to be around £100m when Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng visited the site at Cambois, near Blyth, in January. The Government funding was seen as key in attracting £1.7bn from private investors to make the company’s plans a reality.
But constituency MP Ian Lavery had raised concerns that the funding had not come through, leading to a promise from Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month on the finance. Britishvolt has now confirmed that it has received a confirmation letter of funding from the Government’s Automotive Transformation Fund.
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Work to build the gigafactory started earlier this year, with hopes that it will open in 2023.
Isobel Sheldon, chief strategy officer at Britishvolt, said: “This is great news for our ambitious plans to construct the UK’s premier battery cell gigaplant in Northumberland. While the overwhelming majority of investment for the project will come from private sources, the ATF’s grant funding is very important in proving that the UK Government is confident that we will deliver on our plans, and this will help to generate further private investment. It’s a clear indicator of the Government’s policy towards electrification of society in the Race to Zero.
“We want to thank the UK Government for its support for this critical investment which will create over 3,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs, and that will also strengthen the UK’s technological base and play a key role in helping the country reach its net zero target by 2050. The Britishvolt Gigaplant will create both the jobs and the industry of the future.”
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “I’m delighted to confirm we have now provided Britishvolt with a final grant offer through the Automotive Transformation Fund. The Blyth gigafactory will turbocharge our plans to embed a globally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK and it is fantastic to see how the project is progressing.
“The vast site will ensure Britain can fully capture the benefits of the booming global electric vehicle market. The well-paid jobs and growth it will generate for the North East of England will be transformational and are exactly the reason we are investing to make the UK the best place in the world for automotive manufacturing.”
Britishvolt hopes to produce more than 300,000 lithium-ion batteries a year at Blyth, making it the second gigafactory in the North East after the Envision AESC plant at Sunderland.
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