Japanese battery technology company AESC’s planning application for a third gigafactory in the UK passed Sunderland City Council’s planning committee on 9 September. The scale of the plan (development covers 195,000 sq m in total) and the fact it will be built on green belt protected land means the UK government has the final say.
It would be built at the International Advanced Manufacturing Park alongside AESC’s other facilities and have the capacity to produce 12GWh of batteries each year. Planning papers state the proposed plant will manufacture lithium-ion pouch cells and modules for electric vehicle (and other applications) via four production areas: electrode manufacture, cell production, formation and testing, and module assembly.
The company told BEST the planning application for a third UK plant is part of a wider feasibility study into potential future expansion in the UK. It is not a done deal, a spokesperson stressed. He added: “We welcome the minded-to-grant consent decision for AESC Plant 3. This is a key step in the wider feasibility study into potential expansion of our gigafactory operations in Sunderland.
“Work on our second UK gigafactory is moving from the construction to installation phase and we are on course to deliver 15.8GWh of new EV battery production capacity when completed.” AESC announced the construction of AESC’s second Sunderland battery plant in July 2021. It will be the UK’s largest gigafactory when operational, employing more than 1,000 people.
The company’s first 1.8GWh plant opened in Sunderland in 2012 and was the first in Europe. AESC is auto manufacturer Nissan’s battery partner.
