AESC UK – Car Battery Gigafactory, Sunderland
Project at a glance
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LocationNorth East
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StatusLive
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ClientAESC UK
Designing and building the UK’s first car battery Gigafactory
AESC UK’s new Gigafactory and its second battery plant in Sunderland – will employ over 1,000 people when operational in 2025, and deliver a six-fold increase in UK electric vehicle battery production in the UK.
Wates, alongside our specialist engineering services business, SES, is leading the design and delivery of the build of this landmark project, working alongside Turner & Townsend who are acting as project and cost managers.
Project timeline
- October 2021 – Planning permission granted for the Gigafactory to be built at the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) in Sunderland
- December 2021 – AESC appoints Wates and Turner & Townsend to design and project manage build of the Gigafactory
- December 2022 – First phase of work marked with traditional Japanese ‘first pillar’ ceremony, attended by AESC CEO, Shoichi Matsumoto
- 2024 – Projected project completion date
- 2025 – Battery production begins at the Gigafactory
Creating a beautiful energy world and a carbon neutral future
The Gigafactory, which will be powered by 100% net zero carbon energy, will produce AESC’s latest generation batteries, in enough quantities to power 100,000 electric vehicles annually.
The project is part of a wider £1bn partnership with Nissan and Sunderland City Council to create EV36Zero, an electric vehicle hub supporting next generation EV production and accelerating the transition to net zero carbon mobility.
The footprint of the new building will be the equivalent of 23 football pitches and use 14,000 km of mains cables.
When complete the 360m long building will be longer than the nearby Northern Spire bridge across the River Wear.
Construction of the new building on the IAMP business park which spans land in South Tyneside and Sunderland – will pave the way for potential future investment that could eventually see the site generate 35GWh capacity and 4,500 new high value green jobs in the region by 2030.
We are integrating years of expertise from across our business and supply partners to deliver this immensely complex scheme. This Gigafactory represents the future of green, automotive manufacturing not only in the North East, but nationally and like all our projects, we’re committed to building it sustainably and for the long-term benefit of the region.”
Sir James Wates CBE
Director, Wates Group
AESC UK is pleased to be working with both Wates Group and Turner & Townsend as key partners in this next stage of our UK Gigafactory development. Each brings unique strengths to the project that will help deliver a world-class battery manufacturing facility essential to helping the UK automotive industry transition to a fully electrified future.
We pride ourselves particularly on the safety record of our batteries, which continually achieve zero critical incidents in new product and process designs. Together with smart, digitally integrated clean energy generation, storage and use in our battery plants, we are supporting the global transition towards net zero carbon energy targets.”
Chris Caygill
Managing Director, AESC UK
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