On December 21, Fujian Province-based CATL saw the start of production of its Plant 2 – the first phase of a new lithium-ion battery production base in the province’s Fuding City – marking the start of the site’s actual capacity contribution to the company.
The production base is CATL’s largest single project in the world to date, with a planned annual capacity of 120 GWh and a production value of over RMB 100 billion ($15.7 billion), according to the report.
120 GWh is a lot of capacity, almost all of China’s installed power battery capacity in the first 11 months of this year.
Data released earlier this month by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA) showed that from January to November, China’s power battery installed base totaled 128.3 GWh, up 153.1 percent year-on-year.
The manufacturing base is the largest investment project in manufacturing introduced in Fuding City and has the full support of the local government.
“With the support of government departments at all levels, Fuding CATL took about 330 days from the piling of the plant to the commissioning of the first production line, achieving the start of construction to commissioning in the same year,” said Liu Henghua, operations director of the project.
The report did not mention Plant 2’s annual battery production capacity. According to CATL’s previous announcement, the first phase of the production base project officially started on March 2, with an investment of RMB 17 billion and a planned capacity of 60 GWh. The first phase includes four cell plants, three module plants and supporting facilities, warehouses and dormitories, which will create about 10,000 jobs.
CATL is the largest power battery manufacturer in China, with 11.45 GWh installed in China in November and a 55 percent market share, according to the CABIA.