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A former Royal Air Force base in Wales has been confirmed as the site to build Britain’s first gigafactory, which will produce batteries for electric cars.
Startup company Britishvolt said that after considering Coventry for the site, it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Welsh government for the facility at Bro Tathan, South Wales.
In a statement, the company said the plant, which would have a 200 megawatt solar farm connected, could create up to 3,500 jobs in the area, which had already been affected by Ford’s resolve to close its Bridgend plant until September 2020.
Britishvolt, which is mulling a London Stock Exchange listing in the first quarter of 2021 is the first company to choose the UK to build lithium-ion batteries on a large scale.
READ MORE: Ford to close Wales plant in September 2020, risking 1,700 jobs
The project estimated to cost £4bn ($5bn) will match the Nevada plant of billionaire Elon Musk’s market leading Tesla (TSLA) for production capacity.
After it was announced in February that the sale of diesel, petrol and hybrid cars will be banned in the UK from 2035, car firms and the UK government have called for a battery gigafactory as the global automotive industry moves towards electric cars.
The company also signed a separate deal in May with specialist battery maker AMTE Power to build factories manufacturing 30 gigawatt hours (GWH) of capacity a year together.
The plans will encourage the automotive sector in Wales, as the production of the DBX SUV from luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin is also located in a factory on the same site.
Construction of the Britishvolt is expected to begin at the time of the 2021 quarter if the company can raise 1.2 billion pounds from investors, the company also said it would seek to increase the budget through the government’s Automated Transformation Fund.