Battery 'gigafactories' surge above 200Battery ‘gigafactories’...

Battery 'gigafactories' surge above 200Battery ‘gigafactories’ are being rapidly rolled out across Asia, Europe and North America as the world switches onto the clean energy revolution.

From just three such factories in 2015, the number of such ‘megafactories’ reached 25 in 2018, 70 in 2019 and 181 last year.

Now according to the latest research by industry analysts Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI), the number of lithium-ion battery megafactories in the pipeline to 2030 has hit a new high of 208.

Among them, 153 are located in China, accounting for US$180 billion of investment, followed by Europe with 21 and North America with 11.

Australia has plans for its own gigafactories too, reportedly including near Newcastle and Townsville.

Total capacity in the pipeline for 2030 has reached 3.4TWh (terawatt hours), which is expected to increase from 755GWh (gigawatt hours) of global capacity in 2020, according to BMI.

The global battery “arms race” has intensified, with German automaker VW announcing plans for six 40GWh cell plants in Europe. VW’s production capacity alone is more than the entire global industry consumed last year, with the factories to consume some two-thirds of 2020’s global lithium production.

“It is important to note that this is not just a battery-powered, speculative gold rush as over half this pipeline – 122 plants – are already operational, with many of these ramping up production,” BMI said in its March 31 report.

The analysts project that 77% of global lithium-ion production capacity will be located in China at the end of 2021, with China having 67% of global capacity by 2030 as Europe and North America ramp up production.