Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Feb. 7, China Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd. (CALB) broke ground on the third phase of its power battery manufacturing base in Xiamen city, Fujian province, the Chinese battery manufacturer announced via its WeChat account.

Photo credit: CALB

The move came after CALB signed an investment agreement for its Xiamen base's third phase on Dec. 19, 2021.

To be built in several stages, the third-phase facility is designed to feature an annual lithium battery cell manufacturing capacity of 40GWh in total as well as supporting assembly lines for battery modules and battery packs.

For the first stage, CALB plans to invest 5 billion yuan ($786.275 million) in 10GWh manufacturing facilities, which are expected to output a yearly production value of 8 billion yuan ($1.258 billion). The first stage is scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2023.

As publicly disclosed, the first phase of Xiamen base started production at the end of 2020. On March 2, 2021, the company held a ground-breaking ceremony for the second phase, which targets a production capacity of 10GWh per year.

Upon completion of three phases, CALB's Xiamen production base will possess the capability of outputting 60GWh power batteries annually, the company said.

Besides, CALB inked two investment deals in late January for the plans to build power battery and energy storage system manufacturing bases in Guangzhou and Jiangmen cities of Guangdong provinces, which will add 100GWh per year of total production capacity for the battery maker.