The first batch of battery cells from its first overseas plant was rolled off the newly installed production line under series condition in the G2 building

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Contemporary Amperex Technology Thuringia begins production of battery cells. (Credit: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited)

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) announced that its €1.8bn lithium-ion battery plant in Germany, dubbed Contemporary Amperex Technology Thuringia (CATT), has started serial production of battery cells.

The Thuringia facility consists of two buildings, namely G1 and G2. G1 is an existing building bought from another firm where the battery cells are assembled to modules, while G2 is CATT’s newly-built plant for battery production.

According to the Chinese battery manufacturing company, the first batch of battery cells from its first overseas plant was rolled off the newly installed production line under series condition in the G2 building.

The installation and commissioning of the rest of the production lines are in full swing with the aim to achieve the production ramp-up, stated CATL.

The Chinese firm received the second partial approval for the commissioning of the German battery plant from the state of Thuringia in April 2022.

The German battery facility, which is expected to have an initial capacity of 8GWh per year, has been producing modules at the G1 building since Q3 2021.

The locally produced cells are said to have cleared all tests that are needed for CATL‘s products worldwide, thereby allowing the company to deliver battery cells to European customers from its local plant.

The company intends to achieve a production capacity of 14GWh at its German facility and generate up to 2,000 jobs in the country in the future.

CATL Europe president Matthias Zentgraf said: “The production kickoff proves that we kept our promise to our customers as a reliable partner of the industry and we stay committed to Europe’s e-mobility transition even under very challenging conditions like the pandemic. We are working hard to ramp up production to full capacity, which is our top priority for the coming year.”