The Chinese Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the world’s largest battery manufacturer will build its second European plant in Debrecen, worth around HUF 3,000 billion (approx. EUR 7.34 billion).
The construction work for the battery plant with a capacity of 100 gigawatt-hour (GWh) could start as early as this year. This is already the second significant investment in the automotive industry after Mercedes in July within a short period of time. Mercedes announced late last month that it would add new production lines worth HUF 400 billion (EUR 980 million) to its Hungarian assembly and bodywork plant. CATL’s investment is more than four times the size of SK Innovation’s mega-investment of HUF 680 billion (EUR 1.6 billion), the largest in recent years.
CATL is building a plant on a 221-hectare site, located in the Southern Industrial Park in Debrecen. The project will create around 9,000 new jobs in Hungary and will supply battery cells and modules to European car manufacturers.
The company said in a statement that Hungary – and Debrecen in particular – has a stable business environment, well-developed infrastructure and logistics links, a long-established automotive industry and a large competitive workforce, making it the perfect choice for CATL’s second European battery plant after Germany.
The proximity of the Hungarian plants of its customers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen, the Hungarian plant will enable CATL to better meet the battery demands of the European market, expand its global production network and help accelerate e-mobility and energy transition in Europe.
In order to build a sustainable and circular battery value chain, CATL is also examining the possibility of joining forces with local partners to establish facilities for battery materials in Europe.