The UK government has unveiled a £380m grant to support the construction of one of Europe’s largest battery gigafactories.
The funding forms part of a wider £700m investment package targeting advanced manufacturing.
“This government is backing the industries of the future by investing in auto firms, SMEs and battery manufacturers across the country, helping to boost economic growth and our resilience, secure jobs and put more money in people's pockets,” said Business Secretary Peter Kyle.
The gigafactory will be constructed for Agratas, a global battery business, in Somerset and is expected to support around 4,200 jobs.
The site will be constructed using 100% British steel and is expected to generate approximately £43bn in economic value over 25 years once fully operational.
It will produce battery cells for Jaguar Land Rover, underlining the growing integration between automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and vertically aligned battery manufacturing.
Gigafactories are inherently reliant on sophisticated cleanroom infrastructure to ensure battery cell quality, safety and performance.
The Agratas facility will require tightly controlled environments for electrode production, cell assembly and electrolyte handling, processes highly sensitive to particulate and moisture contamination.
As such, the project represents a major expansion of large-scale cleanroom capacity within the UK’s industrial base.
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