Chinese EV battery manufacturer Gotion Hi-Tech has been making big moves with respect to capacity expansion since the beginning of this May. On May 9, Gotion announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Argentinian mining company JEMSE to jointly build a lithium carbonate refinery. Then, on May 20, Gotion notified that its sub-subsidiary had obtained the rights to prospect for lithium in a local mining zone in Yichun, which is a city in China’s Jiangxi Province. Finally, at the end of May, Gotion disclosed that two newly-built battery production bases have entered operation. These bases are respectively located in Yichun and Nanjing.
Gotion Activates 10GWh of Battery Production Capacity in Yichun
On May 30, the government of Yichun held a press event to notify the public about the major local industrial projects that have been launched or completed during the second quarter of 2022. At the event, Gotion announced that it has formally 10GWh of local production capacity for EV batteries.
According to the reporting by local media outlets, Gotion is investing in an integrated battery industry cluster Yinchun. The cluster will comprise facilities for EV battery production, lithium carbonate production, sorting of lithium ores, etc. Yichun is expected to become the heart of the company’s business operations.
Zhang Wei, VP of Gotion’s China Business Unit and CEO of the company’s subsidiary (provisionally named here as) Yichun Gotion Battery, said the development of the battery production base will be carried out in two phases. Each phase will add 15GWh of production capacity for EV batteries. The 10GWh of production capacity that was just activated in May is part of the first phase. The setup of the entire base is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.
In addition to battery production, Gotion is also establishing material production and mining operation in Yichun as it wants to fully take advantage of the rich lithium resource of the surrounding region. On December 29, 2021, Gotion broke ground on a new lithium production base in the vicinity of the city. Set to enter operation in the fourth quarter of 2022, the base will be able to output 50,000 metric of battery-grade lithium carbonate and sort 7.5 million metric tons of lithium ores annually.
Gotion Activates 20GWh of Battery Production Capacity in Nanjing
Outside Yichun, Gotion has also been developing a new smart manufacturing base in Nanjing. Located in the city’s Liuhe District, the base was formally inaugurated on May 28.
Including the new base, Gotion is currently operating three manufacturing sites in Liuhe District through its local subsidiary (provisionally named here as) “Gotion New Energy Technology”. The total area and the construction area of the new base come to around 400 mu and 220,000 square meters respectively. In terms of production capacity, the base has 20GWh for EV batteries.
Setting up the first production line of the new base in Nanjing took less than eight months. The signing of the project agreement took place last June. The construction phase then commenced last October. And finally, the first production line was put into operation at the end of this May. Gotion has built up a total of 30GWh of production capacity for lithium batteries in Nanjing. One by one, these local production lines will enter operation and thereby push the company toward the target of attaining 100GWh by the end of 2022.
This article is an English translation of a Chinese article from TrendForce. The information presented here is available on public domain.