The importance of developing an industry around electric mobility has put the spotlight on the various car battery factory projects in Spain; what are the main ones and what is their current status?

In just a few years, thanks to the emergence of innovative specialized brands, electric vehicles have managed to dispel all doubts about their vital importance as a leading player in the decarbonization of transport, as well as strengthening their position as the great alternative to combustion vehicles. This new reality, already vital and present in the strategies of major vehicle manufacturers, is causing a revolution in countries that traditionally produce vehicles and in those that choose to do so. In addition to the increasing number of announcements about new electric models, there are also announcements about multiple investments to build component factories for these vehicles, among which the car battery factories in Spain stand out, far above the rest.

Until recently, the absence of news about this type of investment in Spain was surprising. Spain is the second largest vehicle producer in Europe and ninth in the world; it is also a key player given its strategic reserves of rare earths—among the most important in Europe—essential for the manufacture of these electric components. News of new factories across Europe appeared day in and day out, with the emergence of countries like Norway and Sweden being surprising, although not so surprising considering the great importance of electric vehicles to their consumers. Meanwhile, the Iberian country seemed to remain immobile in the face of this situation; but this state of quietude has come to an end in recent months, when multiple electric battery factory projects in Spain have dominated headlines in various media outlets. Several public-private consortia, companies, industry associations, and institutions have expressed their interest in developing various projects to support the reconversion of an industry that is so important to the country’s GDP (10% of the total), filling the map with initiatives to make Spain a country committed to the decarbonization of transport. And even more so if we take into account that the economic recovery plans to combat the deep mark left by COVID-19, both at European and national levels, include the commitment to this technology, among others.

To this end, it has been essential to provide an allocation of 13 billion euros – 10 billion depending on the source – from said European recovery funds, which will seek to attract public-private investments with the main agents in the sector, very focused until now on investments in France or Germany, where the automotive industry is also crucial.

News in the manufacture of batteries for electric cars in Spain

Thus, the industry has welcomed the announcement by Seat, part of the Volkswagen Group, that it will have a production capacity of 500,000 electric cars per year at its Martorell plant, which has also been accompanied by the news of a battery factory by Volkswagen, which represents the first step in the long journey towards an industry aimed at covering the entire electric vehicle value chain. In addition, Stellantis – the giant resulting from the merger of equals between the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French Groupe PSA – is working on building an electric battery factory in the country, where it has several of its most important vehicle manufacturing centers.

In addition to these milestones, fundamental for the creation of wealth and employment, there are various projects yet to be defined, although not all of them will be able to count on the necessary investment to become a reality. Let’s see what the main projects for the manufacture of automobile batteries are in Spain and the status of each one.

Main projects of automobile batteries

Main projects for the manufacture of automobile batteries in Spain and their status

Batchain Alliance: a consortium for the entire value chain

One of the projects The most important, which is actually a consortium made up of different companies, is the Battchain alliance, with an approximate volume of 1.2 billion euros to fully develop electric batteries in Spain. This initiative includes everything from the extraction of minerals to the production of batteries, which will be carried out at the San José de Valdeflórez mine (Cáceres), the production of solid-state cells at a location yet to be decided in the Basque Country (the Álava option is gaining ground), assembly at the Nabbat plant at a location yet to be confirmed in Navarre, the assembly of part of the production – the other part would be destined for major vehicle manufacturers – at the Scoobic factory in Dos Hermanas (Seville), and its recycling at the Beeplanet plant in Noain (Navarre).

Thus, this group of companies led by EIT InnoEnergy, could create 1,700 direct jobs and 12,000 indirect jobs thanks to an estimated turnover of around 2.4 billion euros by the end of this decade. This alliance has managed to overcome the lack of cooperation and collaboration between communities, one of the main obstacles to a macro-project of this style, integrating different projects such as Basquevolt, Battery Packs, Scoobic or Nabbat in a joint and differential proposal. Battery factory in Catalonia: located near the Seat manufacturing hub in Catalonia. One of the projects that has raised the greatest expectations is the one mentioned above, which unites the forces of Seat (Volkswagen Group), Iberdrola, Telefónica, Caixabank and the Government of Spain through a public-private consortium to build a large battery factory in Catalonia. The announcement, launched in March by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has placed the former Nissan facilities in Barcelona as one of the possibilities to house this new plant, with the other possibility being Seat’s own Martorell plant, which will house an electric vehicle production line. Be that as it may, this project, which would have a budget valued at around 5 billion euros, promises to become one of the most important at an industrial level in the coming years for the country, also helping to alleviate the closure of some industries in the area, such as Nissan itself. Despite this, the project currently seems to be up in the air due to several factors, so it is still unknown whether it will finally be carried out or not.

Phi4tech is a comprehensive energy storage project that would be around 1 billion euros and would generate a total of 1,600 jobs, putting Extremadura on the map of the automotive industry thanks to a capacity of 2 gigawatt hours per year in 2023, increasing to 10 by 2025, and even doubling it to 20 by 2027. This initiative, announced by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism last March, would be associated with the lithium mines of Las Navas (Cáceres), operated by Lithium Iberia, as well as the Aguablanca mine. Raw materials that would be treated in a cathode factory that Phi4tech itself would build in Cáceres.

Stellantis car battery factory: a great possibility yet to be defined

The presence of Stellantis – the giant resulting from the merger of equals between the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French Groupe PSA – as one of the major car manufacturers in Spain has led to the Vigo Free Trade Zone being proposed as one of the possible locations for one of its future car battery factories in Spain (its presence in several projects has yet to be defined).

In this sense, the Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium has expressed its interest to the Spanish Government to propose Plisan de Salvaterra-As Neves as the ideal location for these claims, which could translate into a factory with an initial production capacity of 2 GWh, achieving 16 GWh in its final phase, and a total of 300,000 electric batteries per year thanks to an investment of 151.7 million euros.

Valencian Battery Alliance: a project under the protection of Power Electronics

This alliance, under the auspices of the Generalitat Valenciana, with the notable support of companies such as Ford and Power Electronics, is working on a project to build a giga-factory in Valencian territory that would entail an investment of 2 billion euros and the creation of 30,000 jobs, in addition to supporting the continuity of the Almussafes factory and its auxiliary industry. Thus, this initiative has been submitted to one of the calls endorsed by Industry for the Next Generation EU funds.

IDEC car battery manufacturing plant: a great project for Cantabria

Last September, Miguel Ángel Revilla, president of Cantabria, announced the interest of the French company IDEC in locating a new electric car battery factory in the region. Thus, this announcement, which came with the promise of nearly 3,000 jobs, seems to be moving forward after the visit, last January, of a delegation from the company, although it is still to be defined.

The location of the factory could be the future La Pasiega Industrial Estate, of which this new plant could occupy 200 hectares, 50 of which will be for auxiliary companies.

Battery Academy: Spain will be the first European country where the EBA250 Battery Academy will be implemented

Although we have talked about different projects for factories to produce car batteries, these require qualified personnel in the sector. A witness that the Battery Academy project seems to have picked up after the announcement that Spain will train 150,000 professionals in this field – it is estimated that in Europe 800,000 people will need to be trained in these tasks by the end of 2025. This milestone was announced during the European Battery Alliance Day, held in Madrid on May 19, in the presence of the Vice President for Institutional Relations and Foresight of the European Commission, Marco Sefcovic, and the Secretary General for Industry and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of the Government of Spain, Raúl Blanco.

To this end, Spain will be the first European country to deploy the EBA250 Battery Academy, a training platform for all the jobs needed in the battery value chain, according to Europa Press.