According to Tata Group, the new facility will cater to its customers in the UK and Europe with electric mobility and renewable energy storage solutions as well as help in setting up a competitive green tech ecosystem in the country at scale
Tata Group reveals plans to invest over £4bn to build a battery cell gigafactory in the UK. (Credit: Tata Sons Private Limited)
Indian conglomerate Tata Group has revealed its plans to invest more than £4bn to build a battery cell gigafactory in the UK with a capacity to generate 40GW of cells per year.
The proposed battery gigafactory is projected to produce high-quality, high-performance, sustainable battery cells and packs for a range of applications within the electric mobility and energy sectors.
Production from the new battery gigafactory is scheduled to commence in 2026.
According to Tata Group, the new facility will cater to its customers in the UK and Europe with electric mobility and renewable energy storage solutions. Besides, it will help set up a competitive green tech ecosystem in the country at scale.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Tata Motors will be the anchor customers of the battery plant, said the Indian conglomerate.
Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said: “Our multi-billion pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to the country, helping to power the automotive sector’s transition to electric mobility, anchored by our own business, Jaguar Land Rover.
“With this strategic investment, the Tata group further strengthens its commitment to the UK, alongside our many companies operating here across technology, consumer, hospitality, steel, chemicals, and automotive.”
By utilising new technologies and resource efficient processes such as battery recycling, the battery gigafactory aims to recover and reuse all the original raw materials to offer a fully circular economy ecosystem.
Besides, the facility plans to optimise its renewable energy mix to achieve 100% clean power.
According to the UK government, Tata Group’s investment will generate up to 4,000 highly skilled jobs and thousands of additional jobs in the wider supply chain for battery materials and critical raw minerals.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Tata group’s decision to build their new gigafactory here in the UK – their first outside of India – is a huge vote of confidence in Britain. This will be one of the largest ever investments in the UK automotive sector.
“It will not only create thousands of skilled jobs for Britons around the country, but it will also strengthen our lead in the global transition to electric vehicles, helping to grow our economy in clean industries of the future.”
Last month, Tata Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to build a lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in the Indian state with an initial investment of INR130bn ($1.58bn).