One of the biggest stories in toll processing and battery production over the past few years has been the rise and fall of the United Kingdom’s first battery gigafactory, which aimed to create a national circular economy for an electrically powered future.
The company Britishvolt entered administration in January 2023 after a tumultuous 2022 trying and failing to construct a gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland that would have potentially become the centre of the UK battery industry.
This seemed to be the end of the story for Britishvolt right up until the end of February 2023, when the company Recharge Industries based in Victoria, Australia, announced that they had finalised a deal to take over Britishvolt.
This means that the gigafactory project will continue, but it does mean a significant change of focus for a company that was set to be the central pillar of the UK’s green energy strategy.
Instead of continuing to develop the lithium-ion battery technology built from scratch by Britishvolt, Recharge plans to use designs developed by US partner company C4V, as well as using research that had already been undertaken by the previous administration.
As well as this, Recharge has access to the Australian lithium supply chain, which would avoid the expense of finding supplies in the UK, giving Britishvolt a headstart.
The wording of the press release also suggests that despite the need to pay off a creditor who has a secured debt based on the Bylth site, Recharge will buy the land before the March 2023 deadline and claimed the site was “shovel-ready” within six to 12 months,
The big change, however, is that the business focus is on energy storage batteries, with high-performance sports car batteries coming after 2026, rather than the initial focus on mass-producing automobile batteries from the outset.
This may change after the gigafactory is completed, but it remains to be seen what happens next to the troubled first UK electric gigafactory.