Anglo-Korean Battery Company Eurocell to Build New European Gigafactory

Eurocell, an Anglo-Korean battery company, is set to build a new European gigafactory in Western Europe.

The new gigafactory is set to produce the company’s “production-ready” batteries within the next year, “far faster” than other gigafactories, according to Eurocell. Full capacity, however, will not be reached until 2025.

Eurocell has received a £600 million investment over two phases and is planning to European energy storage, automotive, and e-mobility applications.

However, the company is remaining tight-lipped over where the factory will actually be located. At the moment, all Eurocell will tell us is that the site will be located in either the UK, the Netherlands, or Spain. It is actively looking at sites but the final choice is “heavily dependent on gaining the right level of central government support and investment.”

Eurocell’s batteries, which were developed in Korea, have a considerable technological advantage – apparently lasting more than ten times longer than conventional lithium-ion cells and come with no end-of-life issues. The company also reckons its cells have a wide range of operating temperatures, making them more suitable to areas with extreme weather and without access to an existing grid network.

“Eurocell in the UK is a new company, led by a highly experienced UK team and backed by our South Korean partner with decades of experience in electrochemistry, making batteries at mass scale and building the Gigafactories to produce them,” says Recardo Bruins, CEO Eurocell EMEA. 

“Now we are planning to rapidly expand in Europe, supplying the energy storage and automotive industries with our market-leading technologies that last longer, perform better and are 100% safe. These products can be on the market in months, not years.”

Eurocell is planning to build its gigafactory in two phases. The first will begin in early 2023, when battery cell manufacturing will begin “at scale” for existing customers. At the same time, a bespoke facility will be constructed on the same site and promises to be capable of producing more than 40 million cells annually by 2025.

European battery plants are becoming a hot topic at the moment, with Britishvolt planning to scale up operations in the coming years, as well. Eurocell, meanwhile, is hoping that its plan to create “hundreds” of direct and indirect jobs, as well as transferring vital skills from its Korean battery experts will be a boost for Europe’s net-zero ambitions.