Electric car battery factory could be built in St Athan creating up to 4,000 jobs

Thousands of jobs could be created in Wales, as Britishvolt said it’s chosen St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan as its preferred location to build a battery cell factory for electric cars.

Britishvolt said it chose the Bro Tathan industrial estate in St Athan is because of the availability of skilled workers as well as an Aston Martin production facility in the area.

Lars Carlstrom, from Britishvolt, said it aims to deliver “world-class lithium ion batteries to support the unprecedented transition to electrification.”

“After six months of careful analysis, Bro Tathan is the preferred choice due to number of different factors… The region meets crucial criteria including import/export accessibility, availability of labour and skilled staff, along with convenient geographical proximity to customers and local industrial companies.”

Britishvolt said the factory would employ at least 3,500 local Welsh people and there could be up 15,000 more jobs for the wider supply chain – including material suppliers, contractors and local services.

The company said by 2023, it plans for the first stage of the plant to be fully functional bringing £1.2 billion of investment to south Wales.  

The plans are likely to be welcomed after Ineos announed is putting its plans to create 500 jobs and build its new 4×4 vehicle in Wales on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and GE Power and British Airways recently announcing redundancies within the South Wales area.

Britishvolt are also announcing plans to build a solar park alongside the factory, to support sustainable production of batteries.

Lars Carlstrom, Britishvolt says “Our ambition is to become one of the greenest battery producers worldwide.”

Shadow Minister for Economy, Business, and Infrastructure Russell George MS has welcomed news that St Athan is the preferred site for the factory.Mr George said: “We know that the economy is taking a hit because of Coronavirus, and is likely to for some time.”There is therefore the need for some cautious boldness, some entrepreneurial optimism to get the Welsh economy going.”

The company is currently in discussions with the Welsh Government about the plans.