Britishvolt has named  Bro Tathan in South Wales as the lead site for its planned battery ‘Gigafactory’.

The company said Bro Tathan was the leader of two shortlisted sites for the factory, which aims to produce batteries storing 30GWh annually. It plans for the first stage of the plant to be fully functional by the third quarter of 2023.

The firm also announced plans to build a solar park alongside the factory, to support sustainable production of batteries and meet low carbon objectives.

Lars Carlstrom, Britishvolt chief executive said: “Our gigafactory will have one of the top three largest single footprints in Europe. The plant will be one km long and 30 metres tall, needing 80 plus hectares of land, and the energy intensive nature of producing lithium ion cells means nearby renewable sources are of huge importance…

“Our state of the art and high efficiency gigaplant will employ at least 3,500 local Welsh people. These will be across a wide range of disciplines and will create a local ecosystem of 10,000 to 15,000 further jobs for the wider supply chain – including material suppliers, contractors and local services.” and envision that between 40 and 60 per cent of the initial £1.2 billion of investment will be injected directly into the chosen community, representing a real catalyst for growth in the local economy and the UK.”

Britishvolt says the initial wave of £1.2 billion of investment into the site will eventually lead to around 3,500 jobs.