Manufacturing giant Tata Group has confirmed it will invest £4bn in an electric vehicle battery plant in Somerset, creating around 4,000 jobs.
The government announced last summer that the company was planning a new giga-factory in the UK, and this latest announcement confirms this will go ahead and the location.
Battery production will begin at the facility in 2026, it said, and the impact on the jobs market will extend into Tata’s supply chain as well as on the site itself.
Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Tata, and Tata Motors, will be “anchor” customers for the new battery. The plan in future is to supply other car manufacturers, as well as produce commercial energy storage.
The company said the investment was “an integral part of the Tata Group’s commitment to electric mobility and renewable energy storage solutions”.
Chairman N Chandrasekaran said: “Our multi-billion pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to the country, helping to power the automotive sector’s transition to electric mobility, anchored by our own business, Jaguar Land Rover.
“With this strategic investment, the Tata group further strengthens its commitment to the UK, alongside our many companies operating here across technology, consumer, hospitality, steel, chemicals, and automotive.”
He also thanked the UK government for its input in securing the investment.
The factory will be built by Agratas, Tata’s global battery business, on the site of an old World War Two factory that was decommissioned in 2008.
It will produce 40GWh of battery cells annually, enough to supply approximately 500,000 passenger vehicles.
Emma Rawlings, chief executive of the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said the new factory would “put Somerset, its businesses and workforce at the heart of the green revolution to switch to electric vehicles”.
The area is already home to Hinkley Point C, a nuclear power station, and its supply chain.
Tata Group also owns Tata Steel, which announced in January it would cut almost 3,000 roles at its Port Talbot steel plant.
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