China's CATL to Manufacture Battery Cells in Germany

Germany approves the construction of the Chinese battery manufacturer’s first production facility outside its domestic market.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Ltd. (CATL) has created the German plant under the title Contemporary Amperex Technology Thuringia (CATT), which has received approval for the commissioning of a battery-cell production plant from the state of Thuringia, Germany.

Construction of the plant, claiming an initial capacity of 8 GWh per year, is in the final stage and the installation of machines is in full swing so that the first cells can roll off the assembly lines by the end of 2022.

CATT consists of two buildings: G1, an existing building purchased from another company and where cells are assembled to modules, and G2, a new-build plant by CATT and where cells will be produced. The government issued its latest approval to permit cell production at G2.

The plant generates part of its power from rooftop solar panels in an effort to produce sustainably. With a total investment of €1.8 billion ($1.96 billion), CATL plans to achieve a production capacity of 14 GWh and create 2,000 jobs in Germany in the future. 

At a launch ceremony held in the Erfurter Kreuz industrial area, Anja Siegesmund, Thuringia's Minister of Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation, said E-mobility in Germany is gaining immense momentum, and the state needs companies that are committed to taking sustainability and conservation into account right from the production stage.