Germany's Volkswagen Group and its partners plan to invest 10 billion Euros in Spain to manufacture EVs and batteries. This figure is 3 billion higher than Volkswagen's previous promise.
Volkswagen and Spain's largest power company, Iberdrola, will work together. Volkswagen will build one huge battery factory near Valencia's Sagunto. To supply some power to this battery plant, Iberdrola will build one solar power plant for it. Iberdrola's CEO, Ignacio Sanchez Galan, told journalists that Iberdrola plans to invest 500 million Euros for this PV energy plant.
In March 2022, Volkswagen previously expressed its plan of building a battery factory in Spain by investing 7 billion Euros. This battery plant is designed to support Volkswagen's 2 electric vehicle factories in Spain. Later on, Volkswagen made new partners, so the total investment quantity rose to 10 billion Euros.
Volkswagen's CEO, Herbert Diess, said Spain is the second largest base in Europe for the car making industry. Volkswagen will electrify Spain and build a new battery plant in the country. This battery factory will support the 2 electric vehicle making plants. Diess explained that Volkswagen plans to build a comprehensive supply ecosystem which will include the extraction of lithium and battery module production.
According to Volkswagen's plan, in 1Q23, the battery factory construction project will be kicked off. Its capacity is planned to be 40 GWh. This plant might enter the mass production phase in 2026. By 2030, this battery factory might hire about 3000 + employees.
In Europe, Spain is the second-largest automotive manufacturing base, second only to Germany. In April, Spain’s government started a bidding process. It will lend 3-billion-Euro loans and grants, to stimulate EV production.
Volkswagen and its subsidiary company, SEAT in Spain presented a bid for PERTE.PERTE stands for the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation program (in Spanish, PERTE). It was funded by the European Union in order to revive the economy and provide pandemic relief. Spain's EV stimulation plans mainly belong to this Project. The EU will choose the winner of the project in 2022.
Volkswagen plans to invest 3 billion Euros in its Sagunto factory. Another 3 billion Euros of investment will go to 4 SEAT factories. And an investment of 1 billion Euros will go to the Pamplona plant.