Recharge Industries completes purchase of Britishvolt
Australian company Recharge Industries has completed its acquisition of battery firm Britishvolt, but the site in Blyth could be used to manufacture grid-scale energy storage instead of electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
After Britishvolt failed to secure investment EY were appointed as administrators, with most of the firm’s 300 staff made redundant with immediate effect.
Now it has confirmed that Recharge Industries has completed an agreement to buy Britishvolt’s business and assets.
The BBC are reporting that Recharge Industries will start by producing batteries for energy storage – both grid-scale batteries and smaller packs for use in buildings – rather than batteries for EVs. These products are expected to be launched in the UK and Australia by the end of 2025.
The company had planned to build a gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland, that would produce enough batteries for over 300,000 electric vehicles each year. The project was set to create 3,000 direct highly-skilled jobs and another 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain
According to the BBC, Recharge Industries is currently building a facility in Australia to produce batteries for electric vehicles.
The Australian company is ultimately owned and run by a New York-based investment fund called Scale Facilitation.
“What we are bringing is validated technology,” the fund’s Australian Chief Executive David Collard told the BBC.
“The US defence industry has validated it and it is already supplied to the UK navy through a subcontractor.”
In an exclusive comment piece run on the Transport + Energy website last month, Britishvolt’s former Director of Communications and PR, Ben Kilbey, spoke about some of his learnings over the past two years. He looks to what the future may herald for the site in Northumberland and explains the necessity for correct policy to bolster the UK battery and electric vehicle industry.