London construction firm named on £2.6bn Northumberland battery gigaplant project

A London-headquartered construction firm has been appointed on the UK’s first battery gigaplant set to be built in the North East.

Battery technologies investor Britishvolt has appointed global specialist ISG to lead construction on the multi-billion pound project in Blyth in Northumberland.

The result of £2.6bn investment, the new Blyth plant will produce lithium-ion batteries for the automotive and renewable energy industries.

ISG has three decades of experience leading global production projects, recently delivering over £2.5bn worth of data centre projects and £750m of logistics and distribution centres globally.

Construction on the plant is set to commence in Summer 2021, with production of the batteries expected to begin at the end of 2023.

ISG CEO, Paul Cossell, commented: “This landmark project to build the UK’s first gigaplant is one of the most visible signs that we are confidently stepping up to meet the challenge of new zero emissions by 2050 and closely aligned with the government’s key commitment to cease petrol and diesel car manufacturing by 2030.

“The construction phase alone will directly support thousands of jobs in the North East and create a wealth of training and upskilling opportunities for local communities. The legacy of this major investment will benefit the region for generations to come.”

Britishvolt CEO, Orral Nadjari, added: “We’re delighted to have engaged ISG as the construction partner for our Blyth gigaplant. Its long expertise of delivering global projects will be crucial to meeting our exacting standards and tight timeframe.

“Especially key is that ISG’s frontline team delivered Jaguar Land Rover’s production facility in Nitra, Slovakia, giving Britishvolt hugely relevant and recent experience in delivering large-scale projects such as ours.

“Our gigaplant project is now on track in every key area: construction, product development, funding and a high-level of customer engagement for our world-class lithium-ion batteries. We will be production ready at the end of 2023. It’s essential that we are ready to power the future as quickly as possible.”

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