Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) has received approval to produce battery cells with an annual production capacity of 8 gigawatt-hours in its factory in the German state of Thuringia. Capacity is expected to reach 14 gigawatt-hours. The new plant, CATL’s first factory outside China, has a total investment of €1.8 billion, which is much higher than the average CNY300 million to CNY400 million investment in the company’s domestic factories. “We are glad to be the first company to receive approval to manufacture made-in-Germany batteries. The plant will provide a strong impetus for the urgently needed energy transition,” said Matthias Zentgraf, CATL’s President for Europe.
Despite the unstable global supply chain due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the Thuringia plant is in the final stage of construction and machine installation, and is set to start operation by the end of this year, the company said. “Our German plant is expected to provide high-quality products and services for major carmakers in Germany,” Zentgraf added. The new plant is only about a three-hour drive from Tesla’s Giga-factory Berlin-Brandenburg. Germany’s BMW Group also announced back in 2019 the purchase of batteries from CATL worth €7.3 billion. “The move showed that CATL is looking to speed up its capacity expansion with an eye on growing its global market share. The company is also planning for an anticipated boom in new energy vehicle sales in the coming years,” said Wang Jing, Researcher at Shanghai Chaos Investment Group.
Robin Zeng, Chairman of CATL, told over 50 investors, including Hillhouse Group, Sequoia Capital, Tencent Holdings and Temasek Holdings, that the company is exploring the feasibility of localizing in the United States. Zeng said the company has had plenty of interaction with U.S. clients, including both traditional automakers and new vehicle manufacturers, and has explored with them the feasibility of supplies and cooperation. With over 10 production bases by the end of last year, CATL plans to boost the number of overseas bases as well as system construction, including the training of overseas employees, he said, as reported by the China Daily.
