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Germany is dipping into an economic aid fund to support the construction of a battery cells factory in the country by Chinese lithium giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), BEST Battery Briefing can reveal.

CATL confirmed last week it would invest €240 million (US$280m) to build the electric vehicle (EV) battery plant at Erfurt, in the east-central state of Thüringen.

Silicon Valley-based energy storage firm Primus Power could see its zinc bromide flow batteries also produced in South Africa— with the backing of one of the world’s biggest mining firms.

Johannesburg-based Anglo American Platinum (AAP), a key investor in privately held Primus, is considering supporting the project, BBB can reveal.

German lithium-ion battery developer and producer BMZ is relocating its China operations in Shenzhen to new premises in the city as it expands operations.

The group’s 100%-owned BMZ China subsidiary is investing around EUR7 million ($8.5m) in the new, 35,000 square metre facility— which is three times the size of the current plant, BBB has confirmed.

China’s lithium-ion automotive battery developer Tesson New Energy has started construction of a 4GWh battery assembly facility in the eastern city of Nanjing.

Tesson, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Tesson Holdings, said it plans to invest more than CNY5 billion ($790 million) in building the facility in the city’s Lishui district— that will be its headquarters for operations, production and R&D.

Chinese battery giant BYD is reportedly set to start operations at a new CNY4 billion ($636 million) lithium-ion battery production plant in western China this June.

The first of three production lines expected to start rolling at the plant in Xining, Qinghai Province, will have an annual production capacity of 10GWh, according to China’s state Xinhua News Agency.