PowerCo SE is taking the next step in building up the global battery business: In the Spanish region of Valencia, the company gave the go-ahead for the construction of its second PowerCo in the presence of His Majesty King Felipe VI, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the Prime Minister of the Region of Valencia Ximo Puig given cell factory.
The Gigafactory Valencia will start producing the unit cell in 2026 and will directly employ more than 3,000 people in the future. According to a recent study, up to 30,000 additional, indirect jobs could be initiated at suppliers and partners in Spain. The Volkswagen Group has made battery technology a core element of the NEW AUTO strategy and founded its own battery company, PowerCo.
The annual production capacity is initially 40 GWh, but can be expanded to 60 GWh in the future. The cell factory is being built in Sagunto, in the immediate vicinity of Valencia, on an area of around 130 hectares.
Together with the planned supplier park, which will be built parallel to the PowerCo factory, the area even amounts to 200 hectares. The availability of cheap green electricity, the regional science and innovation cluster as well as the good transport connections and the proximity to the Spanish production sites play an important role. In the future, the Gigafactory Valencia will supply the vehicle plants in Martorell and Pamplona with unit cells, among others.
The President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, thanked the Volkswagen Group and SEAT for their commitment to Sagunto and the Region of Valencia: “Mission Valencia represents a productive alliance between PowerCo, the Generalitat and the governments of Spain and Europe towards a sustainable Mobility transformation. Looking to the future, we have the Community of Valencia behind us to accelerate our ambitious work – with full confidence in what we can achieve if we act together.”
PowerCo aims to manufacture sustainable batteries in Valencia. The cell factory is supplied with energy entirely from green electricity from the sun and wind, including from a 250-hectare solar park in the immediate vicinity of the factory. In perspective, the raw material cycle will be closed directly on the site of the cell factory.
The Gigafactory Valencia is a central part of the 10 billion euro investment program called “Future: Fast Forward” that the Volkswagen Group announced last year together with PowerCo, the Spanish subsidiary SEAT SA and 49 other partners. As part According to the plan, Volkswagen will also electrify its car factories in Martorell and Pamplona as part of the so-called PERTE subsidy program for electric and connected vehicles.
The PowerCo bundles the global battery business of the Volkswagen Group along the entire value chain – from the supply of raw materials and development to the construction and operation of the gigafactories. By 2030, PowerCo is expected to generate annual sales of over 20 billion euros.
