Battery manufacturer PowerCo has landed in Spain, opening an office in the centre of Valencia from where its activities in our country will be coordinated. A week earlier, during the first half of January, the subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, founded in July 2022, concluded the acquisition of the land on which it plans to set up the group's second battery factory in Europe.

Located in the Parc Sagunt II industrial estate in Sagunto, 25 kilometres from the centre of Valencia, the plot covers a surface area of 130 hectares, which could be expanded with the addition of adjacent land, thereby reaching the 200 hectares envisaged in the future. The future Spanish battery plant is expected to be connected to the group's network of gigafactories in 2026, when it is scheduled to come into operation.

Production capacity
PowerCo has already started recruiting qualified specialists for the construction and future operation of the factory from its Valencia office. This will manage the construction of a gigafactory with a production capacity of 40 gigawatts per year, and involving the creation of more than 3,000 jobs. All of the batteries leaving its production lines will be destined for the group’s plants in Martorell and Pamplona.

The expansion of PowerCo’s business in Spain will be led by Thomas Dahlem, as CEO, and Javier Rivera, as CFO. The project forms part of the Future: Fast Forward programme, promoted by the Volkswagen Group and Seat together with other partners. The aim of the programme is to mobilise around 10 billion euros to accelerate the Spanish automotive industry's transition to electric mobility.

Start of construction
During the inauguration of the Valencia branch, which was followed by a visit to the site of the future factory (in the photo), PowerCo CEO Frank Blome confirmed the German company’s plans, “2023 will be the year of PowerCo’s international expansion. In Spain, we’re now consolidating the management team and will soon begin initial construction work. We’re also planning next steps in Eastern Europe and North America”.

In the future, PowerCo intends to continue working on the development of other products, including large-scale storage systems for the power grid. These batteries will serve to bolster renewable energy by reducing their dependence on weather conditions and hours of sunshine, one of the factors that still keep the grid reliant on non-renewable sources.

^{Photo: Seat}