Britishvolt receives additional funding for UK battery gigafactory

The budding British battery cell manufacturer Britishvolt has received confirmation from the British government that the company will receive funding from the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). However, the exact amount of the funding is not mentioned in the announcement – in January there was talk of 120 million euros.

“I’m delighted to confirm we have now provided Britishvolt with a final grant offer through the Automotive Transformation Fund,” UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is quoted as saying in the company’s announcement. “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.”

Britishvolt says the ATF funding will support its own plans to build the battery cell factory in the county of Northumberland for a total investment of £3.8 billion (approx. €4.5 billion). “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,” says Isobel Sheldon, chief strategy officer at Britishvolt.

While the factory itself is still under construction, the company continues to prepare for the start of production. In another announcement, Britishvolt says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with BTR to supply synthetic graphite and silicon oxide. The anode material is to be processed by BTR exclusively with hydropower and thus contributes to the sustainability of Britishvolt’s battery cells.

However, it is still a declaration of intent, and details on delivery quantities or the start of the supply are not mentioned in the announcement. BTR also plans to build a sustainable manufacturing base in Europe, not only to produce the materials closer to the Britishvolt Gigafactory, but also to use the UK supply chain for the materials.

britishvolt.com (funding), britishvolt.com (BTR)