The site at Coventry Airport, now known as Greenpower Park, has planning consent for a huge £2.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory which it is hoped will also attract firms in the supply chain. It sits within the West Midlands Investment Zone.
Now the Greenpower Park team and Coventry council have declared that “securing battery cell supply in the UK today is as vital as securing steel was in the 1940s and 50s”. They say the UK is falling behind countries such as US, France and Spain when it comes to attracting battery investment - and say the next Government should work to accelerate UK battery production.
The UK has one operational gigafactory - Envision AESC - which is producing up to 6 GWh of battery capacity annually. But the Faraday Institution's 2022 gigafactory report suggests the UK will need 100 GWh per annum by 2030 to support the electric vehicle industry alone, and that demand could double by 2040.
Meanwhile demand will also grow in other areas, including electricity storage and in marine and aviation.
Greenpower Park calls the West Midlands “the electrification skills capital of the UK” and says the region “is rapidly becoming the centre of cell and battery research and development in the UK”.
Richard Moore, Greenpower Park’s battery Strategy Specialist, said: “This is not the first time the UK has faced a resource crisis. We ramped up steel supply in the 1940s and 50s to build and replace military and civil equipment and can draw a parallel from this with battery cell demands today. And if we act now, we can still resolve the crisis.
“The UK has got to get its head out of the sand if it thinks it’s going to hit its battery cell targets. The government and stakeholders have been slow to react to battery cell supply demands. If the next government doesn’t take action, there will be a major risk to the security of energy supply, which will leave the nation in a perilous state.”
Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for jobs, regeneration and climate change at Coventry City Council said: “The current Government has made some progress, but we need the next Government to go even further to accelerate the UK’s growing battery sector. From automotive to energy storage, there is an urgent need to secure global battery manufacturers along with the associated supply chain to meet the growing demand for electrification in the UK."
“Electrification, across all sectors, is of strategic importance for the UK and it needs to be part of the next Government’s broader industrial strategy which will ensure that potential investors consider the UK in the future.”
Greenpower Park is part of a joint venture between Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport Ltd. It is backed by an alliance including the West Midlands Combined Authority, Warwick District Council, Warwickshire County Council, Rugby Council, Warwick Manufacturing Group at University of Warwick, Coventry University, and the Manufacturing Technology Centre.
