Shanghai (ZXZC)- SVOLT Energy, Great Wall Motor (GWM)’s wholly-owned subsidiary, announced the official opening of the first phase of its automotive-grade intelligent battery plant in Jintan, Changzhou of China on November 27.

To be built in three phases, the facility involves an investment of almost RMB8 billion ($1.14 billion) and covers an area of around 800mu (533,333 square meters) with the expected production value exceeding RMB13 billion ($1.85 billion).

It is said that the capacity of the phase-Ⅰ project is supposed to reach 4 GWh. The phase Ⅱ construction is likely to be finished at the end of 2020 to contribute another 8-GWh capacity in the future while the third-phase will produce 6-GWh power. With 6 manufacturing bases across the world, the company bids to offer a stable supply to mainstream OEMs through generating 76-GWh capacity at home and 24-GWh one abroad in 2025.              

The facility sited at Jintan is SVOLT Energy’s first battery plant and also the global first intelligent battery cell plant which adopts high-speed lamination on prismatic lithium-ion batteries. It integrates smart delivery, quality traceability and analysis, digital quality testing systems and the like.   

As an environmental-friendly and intelligent plant, it is supposed to achieve 95% automation and ensure the cleanliness and the product quality with the most advanced production facility. It aims to realize zero emission through adopting solar power, energy recycling and storage systems, and material recovery technologies.  

The Changzhou-headquartered company focuses on the R&D and manufacturing of the next-generation-battery material, cell, module, PACK, BMS (battery management system), ESS (energy storage system) and solar energy technology. It plans to build seven R&D centers, and its Baoding center, Shanghai center, South Korea center and India center have begun operation as well (photo source: SVOLT).