Britishvolt is holding emergency funding talks amid fears its plan for a £3.8bn gigaplant in Northumberland could collapse.
The electric battery startup has been driving plans to create a site capable of producing more than 300,000 lithium-ion batteries a year at Blyth, also fuelling the UK’s charge towards decarbonisation while creating around 3,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs when it reaches full production capacity. The three-year-old firm’s plans are now said to have hit a stumbling block, as potential investors are reported to have pulled out amid the current global market turmoil, triggering emergency talks with a number of parties.
Britishvolt has admitted its plans have been “refocused and sharpened given the negative global economic situation” and that it is working on “several potential scenarios that offer the stability needed to enable us to carry on building” the plant in Northumberland. The Financial Times has reported that Tata Motors is among firms involved in the talks, which could include the sale of a minority stake or a full takeover, while also claiming Britishvolt faces collapse if it can’t secure fresh funds before Christmas.
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Reports claim one avenue being explored is the sale of Britishvolt’s main factory site to Slovak electric battery startup firm Inobat. The latest reports come two months after chairman Peter Rolton spoke to BusinessLive following the resignation of its chief executive and co-founder Orral Nadjari.
At the time, Mr Rolton told how Britishvolt was working with investors including Arbdn and Tritax to secure funding for the main construction phase of the factory. He said the end of a contract to clear the 93 hectares near the former Blyth Power Station site had triggered speculation about the project’s future, but insisted work would start again, though not before the second quarter of 2023. The company is now being led by interim CEO Graham Hoare.
Britishvolt company spokesperson Ben Kilbey said: “Company policy is to not comment on market speculation. The board of directors supports the company’s latest business plan which has been refocused and sharpened given the negative global economic situation and continues to have full confidence in the senior management team.
“We are actively working on several potential scenarios that offer the stability needed to enable us to carry on building a strong and viable British battery cell R&D and manufacturing business.
“It is important that Britishvolt is a success: not only for the circa 300 employees currently working for the company, but also for the many thousands of jobs that we intend to create at our gigaplant site in Northumberland and our R&D and scale-up facilities in the West Midlands, and for the future of the UK auto industry and the country’s target to become net carbon zero by 2050. The ‘Britishvolt effect’ is of huge strategic importance to UK plc. and its standing on the global battery map.”
Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery urged Government intervention, saying: “Once again we are reading concerning reports about the future of the proposed Britishvolt Gigafactory in Cambois. Whatever truth there may or may not be in these stories my priority is my constituents and making sure a gigafactory gets put on that site creating thousands of much needed, well paid local jobs.
He added: “It is time the government stepped in and showed they are serious about levelling up the North East by taking control of the situation, ensuring the gigafactory is built and taking advantage of a fast emerging market in battery manufacturing.”
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