The rapid growth of China's electric vehicle industry has created a huge demand for power batteries, and manufacturers are accelerating their production expansion.
On June 29, China Lithium Battery Technology Co Ltd (CALB) announced the start of the first phase of its 50GWh power and energy storage battery project in Chengdu, a city in southwest China.
The project is the largest investment and fastest-moving project above the RMB 10 billion ($1.5 billion) level since the establishment of Chengdu Major Industrialization Project Investment Fund, CALB said.
The project lays a solid foundation for accelerating the company's production capacity and better serving the market, the company said.
On April 22, CALB signed a project cooperation framework agreement with Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone to reach a consensus on the cooperation of CALB's 50GWh power battery and energy storage battery Chengdu base project.
The project will have a total investment of RMB 28 billion, with an estimated annual output of RMB 40 billion and the creation of 13,000 new jobs.
The project will be built in two phases, and the products will be mainly supplied to the domestic and international new energy vehicle and energy storage markets.
On May 29, the project was officially settled in Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone.
CALB also announced that the construction of Jiangsu Phase III project, with a planned capacity of 23 GWh, started on February 26, and the main plant was topped out ahead of schedule on June 29.
The company has a planned capacity of 100GWh in 2021, which will reach 200GWh in 2022 and over 300GWh in the 2021-2025 period, CALB said, adding that it will enter overseas markets.
In the first five months of this year, CALB ranked fourth in China with 2.92GWh of power batteries installed and a 7.1 percent market share, according to data released earlier this month by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.
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