Buyer Found For Failed U.K. EV Battery Startup Britishvolt

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A bidding war for the collapsed U.K. electric vehicle (EV) battery startup Britishvolt (Blyth) has been won by Australian firm Recharge Industries (North Geelong, Australia).

The firm was named as the preferred bidder by accountants and administrator Ernst & Young (EY), which stated: "This follows a process conducted by EY that involved the consideration of multiple approaches from interested parties and numerous offers received. Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur within the next seven days." Last month, Britishvolt--regarded as the U.K.'s only homegrown chance to get into the fast-growing EV battery sector--failed to secure a last-minute rescue package to save the company and its 300 staff and entered insolvency and administration. It had plans to build the country's first major battery plant in Blyth, Northumberland. The £3.8 billion (US$4.6 billion) plant would have been able to produce enough battery cells for more than 300,000 lithium-ion batteries a year when fully commissioned in 2027. The project was set to create 3,000 direct jobs and another 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain. Industrial Info has been tracking six projects associated with the company. For additional information, see January 19, 2023, article - U.K.'s EV Hopes Dashed as Britishvolt Collapses.

David A. Collard, founder of Recharge Industries, said: "We're thrilled to be progressing with our proposed bid for Britishvolt and can't wait to get started making a reality of our plans to build the U.K.'s first gigafactory. After a competitive and rigorous process, we're confident our proposal will deliver a strong outcome for all involved."

No details have been released on what Recharge paid for Britishvolt, nor its exact plans for employees or the Blyth plant project. Recharge itself is a startup owned by New York-based investment group Scale Facilitation Partners. It is actively pursuing the building of an EV gigafactory in Geelong, Australia. That lithium-ion battery cell production facility will generate up to 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of storage capacity per year for EVs and battery storage. Construction will be phased to begin with at 2 GWh annual production, ramping up to 6 GWh, 12 GWh and then to 30 GWh. As operations expand to 30 GWh, the factory will employ an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 workers. The project has been granted priority status by the Australian government, and last week Recharge appointed Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE:J) (Irving, Texas) to design the plant, from master planning, architecture, structural and civil engineering to electrical, hydraulic, fire protection, and process & control engineering. Industrial Info is tracking the US$208 million project.

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