Shanghai (ZXZC)- China Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd. (CALB), a Chinese lithium-ion battery provider, on Aug. 10 signed an investment agreement with Hefei's government to build a 50GWh power battery and energy storage battery factory in the city's Changfeng County.

CALB, Hefei signing agreement; photo credit: CALB

For the first half of 2021 (H1 2021), China's installed power battery capacity amounted to 52.5GWh, rocketing 200.3% from the year ago, according to China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (CAPBIIA). Among power battery suppliers in China, CALB ranked fourth with 3.63GWh power battery installed during the H1 2021, posting a 377.6% year-on-year hike. The top 3 companies were CATL (25.76GWh), BYD (7.65GWh), and LG Chem (4.72GWh).

Prior to the signing for the Hefei project, CALB celebrated on July 31 the first spade cut in Wuhan for a power battery base, which involves a total investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.542 billion). Annual capacity of the Wuhan factory’s 1st phase is designed to be 20GWh.

Apart from the Wuhan and Hefei facilities, CALB also deploys power battery bases in Changzhou, Luoyang, Xiamen, and Chengdu.

Hefei aims to lift its NEV capacity to 1 million units and generate an output value of NEV industry exceeding 100 billion yuan ($15.45 billion) by 2025, according to a document issued by Hefei municipal government in November 2020. It has attracted attracted a slew of NEV manufacturers including NIO, JAC, Volkswagen (Anhui), and Chery (Chaohu).

The capital of Anhui province is also making major efforts to perfect the supporting industrial chain for NEV manufacturing. On July 20, Hefei Gotion High-Tech Power Energy Co.,Ltd., (Hefei Gotion), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech, signed an agreement with the management committee of Hefei Xinzhan High-tech Industrial Development Zone, intending to build a 20GWh power battery base dedicated to manufacturing Volkswagen's unified cells. In addition, Hefei BYD Automobile Co.,Ltd. (Hefei BYD) completed earlier this month the registration for the project of NEV-related core components.