Despite Britishvolt falling into administration, a leading figure in the UK’s electric vehicle sector, has backed the Northumberland site on which the company was being developed, as an outstanding location for a battery manufacturing plant.
The Cambois site was once the location of coal fired, Blyth Power Station, that closed in 2001 and had remained largely untouched since the completion of demolition works in 2003. Having previously been a major industrial location, the site also offered good road links, freight rail links and proximity to the Port of Blyth, making the transport of materials, in and out of the site ,easy and without the need for a major new infrastructure development.
Ryan Maughan, chair of the North East Automotive Alliance, EV North Group, said: “Along with a strong skill base to call upon, the legacy of that power station is what made this a perfect site for a large-scale battery manufacturing plant. The power station’s grid connections remained and provided an excellent way to quickly get the required level of electrical power for large scale battery manufacture.
“In addition, this electrical connectivity was already being used by the North Sea Link, a 1400-megawatt, 720 kilometre, subsea interconnector, linking the electricity systems of the UK and Norway and providing access to Norwegian renewable electricity.”
The Britishvolt project was one of two major battery gigafactory developments happening in the North East, with the other being undertaken by AESC Envision adjacent to the Nissan plant in Washington, Sunderland. The new AESC plant is well underway, it will have capacity of 12 GWh and will employ more than a 1,000 people when operational in 2025. AESC already operates a small, but long standing gigafactory, within the Nissan site, which was the first of its kind in Europe having been in operation since 2010.
Ryan Maughan, added: “Despite the problems faced by Britishvolt, the Cambois site remains one of the best locations to establish a battery manufacturing plant in the country. The AESC Envision site in Washington, is now the only new large scale battery plant under construction in the UK and experts agree that there will be a need for up to 8 to 10 such plants in the future to make battery cells for electric cars, trucks, planes, grid storage and all kinds of other applications.”
Paul Butler, chief executive of the North East Automotive Alliance, said: “We are the largest automotive cluster in the UK and remain the powerhouse for UK electrification. We remain committed to supporting our members and the sector and we are ready to assist new inward investors who can take the Cambois site forward.”