On December 26, a ceremony was held to mark the groundbreaking of a major battery production base in Tangshan, China’s Hebei Province. The project is being developed by Yaoning Technology, an offspring of Geely Holding Group.
With a total investment of around RMB 15.5 billion, the Tangshan base will be built in two phases. The first phase will set up 12GWh per year of production capacity and occupy an area of 437 mu. The base will be used to manufacture large-capacity Li-ion battery cells that are used in NEV battery packs. Also, earlier in the same month (on December 12), Yaoning commenced construction on another major battery production base in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. The total investment in the Yancheng base is around RMB 10.23 billion. The exact site is in the Yancheng Jianhu Economic Development Zone, and a groundbreaking ceremony was also held for the project. Once completed, the Yancheng base will have a production capacity of 12GWh per year for Li-ion batteries and battery systems. Furthermore, the Yancheng base is estimated to generate around RMB 12 billion in annual sales and RMB 360 million in tax revenue.
In addition to the bases in Tangshan and Yancheng, Yaoning has two other major projects that are tens of billions in scale. One is located in the Yintang Hi-Tech Zone (Jiangxi Province), and the other is located in the Yuyang Economic Development Zone (Hunan Province). The investment agreement for the Yintang project was signed on April 24 this year. The Yintang project will be developed in multiple phases and entail a total investment of around RMB 10 billion. The first phase will set up 4GWh per year of production capacity for LFP batteries. Eventually, the production capacity of the entire Yintang project will reach 20GWh per year. As for the Yuyang project, its investment agreement was inked earlier in August 2021. The Yuyang project, which entails a total investment of around RMB 10.37 billion, will be developed in two phases. The Yuyang project will have a total production capacity of 12GWh per year for LFP batteries and battery systems.
Established in December 2020, Yaoning Technology was an entity separated from Geely Holding Group’s division for automotive components and parts. According to the available information from Chinese websites, Yaoning’s chairman is Li Xinxin, who also happens to be the son of Li Shufu (Eric Li), Geely’s chairman.
Currently, Yaoning has established numerous centers of operation across China for new energy technologies, advanced materials, smart cockpit technologies, and computer vision technologies. These include manufacturing facilities and R&D centers located in Zhejiang Province (e.g., Bay of Hangzhou, Ninghai, and Jinhua) and Shandong Province (e.g., Zhoucheng). Regarding client base, Yaoning is working with several domestic and foreign car brands including Geely Auto, Lynk & Co., Volvo, Lotus Cars, and Smart (Mercedes-Benz).
This article is a translation of a Chinese article posted by Wendy at TrendForce. It contains information that is either sourced from other news outlets or accessible in the public domain. Some Chinese names are transcribed into English using Hanyu Pinyin.