Battery manufacturer Agratas, part of the Tata Group, has announced the appointment of civil engineering firm Sir Robert McAlpine as official delivery partner for Building One of its battery cell manufacturing facility.
The Agratas gigafactory is expected to cost in the region of £4 billion, create 4,000 direct jobs and have an output of 40GWh.
Building One and ancillary development comprises 244,710 sqm of built area, to be located near Bridgewater in Somerset. The development is scheduled to be operational by 2026, and operational works having been underway at the site for several months already.
Piling for Building One is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Once construction is complete, the facility is set to be the biggest of its kind in the UK, contributing almost half of the projected battery needs for the UK automotive industry by the early 2030s.
Having won an extensive tender process, Sir Robert McAlpine will deliver a Workforce Development Strategy with Agratas, prioritising local communities for regional employment opportunities.
Joe Hibbert, vice president for capital projects at Agratas commented: “The beginning of this partnership with Sir Robert McAlpine is another pivotal moment for our nationally significant project.
“The team brings an unrivalled commitment to technical excellence, client service, sustainability and exemplary project delivery, and most importantly, they live and breathe our shared vision of placing community at the heart of everything we do.”
Executive managing director for buildings for Sir Robert McAlpine, Grant Findlay, added: “We are aligned in our ambitions for making a long lasting, positive impact on local communities, guided by our vision to construct a better world for future generations.”
UK EV battery manufacturing
The appointment of a delivery partner for Agratas marks a step toward establishing battery manufacturing in the UK, a much-needed positive after a gigafactory planned by Britishvolt in Northumberland collapsed in January 2023 when Britishvolt went into administration after failing to find additional investors. That site is now to become a data centre.
In June, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Board approved a plan to deliver a West Midlands Investment Zone, which the organisation said would be capable of ‘attracting more than £5.5 billion of private investment’.
Set to be powered by three regional sites, the Investment Zone will include the Coventry-Warwick Gigapark at Coventry Airport, which will be anchored by a new battery gigafactory and associated businesses and technologies. The site will receive tax incentives, business rates retention, and £23 million investment for land remediation, infrastructure and connection to power grids.
Chinese battery manufacturer EVE Energy is set to explore the development of Coventry’s gigafactory via an anticipated £1 billion investment. The 5.7 million square foot facility is initially expected to have an output of 20GWh, which would be ramped up to 60GWh.
