The Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (Proyecto Estratégico para la Recuperación y Transformación Económica, PERTE) launched by the Spanish Government for the development of electric and connected vehicles is starting to mobilise the automotive industry. The Volkswagen Group and Seat were the first to present a project as part of this initiative. The plan, called Future: Fast Forward, is expected to mobilise 10 billion euros if approved by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. Part of this investment will come from the 62 project partners, and part of it will come from EU Next Generation funds.

One of the main initiatives included in the project headed by the Volkswagen Group is the creation of a giant battery factory in Sagunto (Valencia). It will be the first plant of its kind to be commissioned in Spain. This is an important step, given the strategic nature of batteries in the automotive industry, something which will only increase in the future.

Start of production
The Sagunto gigafactory will have an annual production capacity of 40 gigawatt hours, with enough capacity to meet the needs of the group's car manufacturing plants in Martorell and Pamplona. Construction will start in the first quarter of 2023, covering an area of 200 hectares, and production will start in 2026. The group plans to create a total of 3,000 jobs by 2030.

The new factory will also be powered by electricity from its own solar power plant, located less than ten kilometres away and covering an area of 250 hectares. In its first phase, this solar plant will supply 20% of the gigafactory's electricity needs, according to the strategic agreement signed by the Volkswagen Group and the Iberdrola Group.

Largest industrial investment in the history of Spain
Volkswagen Group Chairman Herbert Diess announced this initiative during a visit to the Parc Sagunt II facility. He was accompanied by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, the CEO of Seat, Wayne Griffiths, and Thomas Schmall, the Member of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG in charge of technology and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Seat,.

Diess claims that this is "the largest industrial investment in the history of Spain", and explained, "This 10 billion euros investment will electrify Spain, the second largest car manufacturing country in Europe, by creating a gigafactory for batteries in Sagunto, producing electric vehicles at the Martorell and Pamplona plants, and creating a broad ecosystem of suppliers."

European hub for electric mobility
The Chairman of the Volkswagen Group underlined the role of the PERTE as "a model for the whole of Spain on how traditional industrial structures can be transformed", and assured that his company shares the vision of "making Spain a European hub for electric mobility" with the Spanish Government.

Schmall, for his part, puts the investment in the battery gigafactory at 3 billion euros. The Sagunto plant is one of the six that the group is going to build in Europe to meet the challenge of vehicle electrification, and the executive highlighted its sustainable nature, “Sustainability and a closed-loop supply loop are key for the expansion of batteries in Spain and Europe. To name  a few aspects: with the electricity to power the gigafactory coming 100% from renewable energies, with a local-for-local approach and by recovering raw materials, our new factory in Valencia will be a blueprint for circular economy."

^{Photo: SEAT}