Volkswagen buys the plot for its gigafactory of batteries in Sagunto for 63 million – Spain.
PowerCo , the Volkswagen Group battery company, has bought a 1.3 million square meter plot of land in Parc Sagunt for 63.66 million euros for the construction of its gigafactory of battery cells, which will be the reference plant for the automotive multinational in southern Europe, as reported by the Valencian Generalitat. The company’s plans are to open the factory in 2026.
The operation was closed after the approval by the Board of Directors of Espais Econòmics i Empresarials (EEE), a public company owned 50% by the Generalitat and 50% by Sepides, and the subsequent signing of the deed of sale between the management company of Parc Sagunt and PowerCo.
The plot, the first to be sold in Parc Sagunt II , covers some 1.3 million square meters and the transaction has been closed for an amount of 63.66 million euros. The project will mean the creation of more than 3,000 direct jobs, as well as a reinforcement of the country’s industrial and business competitiveness.
The Generalitat has highlighted that this purchase advances the deadlines established in the agreement signed between the Generalitat, EEE and PowerCo for the construction of the gigafactory of battery cells for electric vehicles that the German group will manufacture.
Ximo Puig, the Valencian president, has indicated that:
An essential step is taken in the process that the Volkswagen Group began for its industrial plan, which will mean an investment of more than 3,000 million euros and a milestone for the future of the economy of the Valencian Community.
Puig added that the purchase “places this operation in the execution phase, so that it will have direct and positive effects on the Valencian labor market.”
Antonio Cervera, the president of Sepides, added that the acquisition of the land in Parc Sagunt represents:
A great advance and reaffirms the commitment to this unprecedented industrial investment.
The CEO of PowerCo, Frank Blome, has echoed on his LinkedIn profile the signing of the documents to acquire the plot, which highlights its nearly 130 hectares, its distance of 30 kilometers north of Valencia and its proximity Sea. He has also pointed out that the next steps will be the opening of a PowerCo office in Valencia and the inaugural event in Sagunt.
The group’s subsidiary has appointed Thomas Dahlem and Javier Rivera Jornet (finance) as members of the board of directors of Power HoldCo Spain, who “will direct the Valencia gigafactory as a central project for the transformation of the Spanish automotive industry”.
The Volkswagen group and Seat announced in March of last year that Sagunto would host a gigafactory of batteries for electric cars, which will be the second of the consortium after the one in Germany. In total, the group made an investment of 10,000 million euros in Spain to electrify the production of its car factories in Landaben (Navarra) and Martorell (Barcelona), as well as for the assembly and development of batteries in Sagunto.
Last December, the Valencian Government declared the future factory as a Strategic Territorial Project (PTE), one more administrative step for the consolidation and development of the facility, which has received close to 400 million euros of public aid from the PERTE for electric vehicles.
The declaration of PTE is an administrative tool provided for in the regional urban planning legislation that allows the Generalitat to streamline bureaucratic procedures and shorten the deadlines “for the installation of companies with high added value”.
The central government and the regional executives of the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Navarra undertook to complete the PERTE funds, including aid and favorable credits.
Highlights:
- The company’s plans are to open the production plant in the year 2026
Volkswagen buys the plot for its gigafactory of batteries in Sagunto for 63 million, January 9, 2022