Second large battery factory to be built in Extremadura by Acciona and Envision
Plant will receive €800m private investment and will be located in the Extremaduran town of Navalmoral de la Mata
Mata MADRIDSpain will have two large battery factories. One will be in Sagunt, under the auspices of Seat and its parent company Volkswagen. The other will be in the Extremadura town of Navalmoral de la Mata. Here, the Spanish company Acciona and the Chinese group Envision will build a battery gigafactory, Extremadura daily Hoy has reportedand sources familiar with the project have confirmed to ARA. Spain will thus have two large battery factories.
The Extremadura plant will take up 200 hectares in the municipality of Navalmoral de Mata and will receive a private investment of €800m. However, the companies hope to obtain public money from the PERTE fund for renewable energies, green hydrogen and energy storage. This fund, endowed with €6.9bn, depends on the Ministry of Ecological Transition, although the Ministry of Industry, which has been working for some time to attract investors for the manufacture of batteries, will also be part of this specific project.
Unlike the Volkswagen group, which presented its project for Sagunt in the framework of the electric car PERTE fund, the companies Acciona and Envision have chosen the PERTE for renewable energies and green hydrogen, leaving the door open for Acciona to develop renewable energy projects in parallel to the factory. Sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition explain to ARA that the PERTE for renewables has received up to 100 different projects valued at over than €800m and that all these projects "are still being analysed".
Lithium, an attraction
The Extremadura factory will have a capacity of 10 GW with a possibility to expand, and it will provide direct employment to some 3,000 people, according to Canal Extremadura. For some time now, business insiders have pointed out that the Extremadura government had made a very firm commitment to attract such a project, making it easier for investors, in the hope of putting an end to the region's centuries-long economic backwardness. In fact, the project announced by Phi4tech in March 2021 to build battery cells will also be developed in Extremadura. Sources from the Ministry of Industry already pointed out to ARA that a second plant would have much more power than the one announced by Phi4tech, although it has not been ruled out that the projects could be brought together.
They all have one element in common: they are drawn in by Extremadura's lithium mines. Lithium has gained sudden fame and is attracting attention worldwide, especially from mining industries and multinational automakers, as it is indispensable for the manufacture of electric car batteries. "Industrial development has to take place next to where the lithium is, and that is why it makes perfect sense for Extremadura to have lithium refining, a gigafactory and industrial elements that connect with the rest [of the region]," said the Secretary of State for Industry, Raül Blanco, in an interview with ARA.