Britishvolt’s plans for a Gigafactory has secured an extra £100m of taxpayer funding and £1.7bn from Abrdn and Tritax Group to help fund its Northumberland facility.

The company expects construction to start in April, and the £3.8bn facility will be built on site of the former Blyth Power Station in Cambois, with a in operational date of 2024.

The project is the second Gigafactory currently planned in the UK, with Nissan expanding battery production at its Sunderland plan, although the Government is attempting to encourage more investment. The UK lost out to Berlin for the troubled Tesla Gigafactory and is fearful that it may lag the EU unless more investment is made. The UK’s Automotive Transformation Fund has a £1bn pot to help develop the electric car supply chain in the UK.

In addition to employing 3,000 people at the site, Britishvolt estimates at least another 5,000 jobs will be created in the supply chain.

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