Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese power battery manufacturer Sunwoda Electric Vehicle Battery Co., Ltd. ("Sunwoda EVB") intends to ink an investment agreement to build a new power battery manufacturing base in Yichang city, Hubei province, according to an announcement issued by its parent company Sunwoda Electronic Co., Ltd. ("Sunwoda") on Sept. 15.

The agreement will be signed with the municipal government of Yichang city, Dongfeng Motor Group Company Limited ("Dongfeng Motor"), and Dongfeng Hongtai Holdings Group Co., Ltd. ("Dongfeng Hongtai").

Photo credit: Sunwoda

The new investment project will focus on the R&D, design, production, and sale of power battery cells, modules, packs, and systems. Under the project, a power battery base with an annual production capacity of 30GWh will be built in two phases with 12 billion yuan ($1.723 billion) to be poured.

Involving an investment of around 8 billion yuan ($1.149 billion), the first phase will feature a planned production capacity of 20GWh per year. The rest 10GWh of manufacturing capacity is planned for the second phase.

The announcement came after Sunwoda's board of directors approved a proposal in mid-June this year which allows Sunwoda EVB to build a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor and Dongfeng Hongtai. Involving a registered capital of 500 million yuan ($71.8 million), the joint venture will be 51/35/14 held by Sunwoda EVB, Dongfeng Motor, and Dongfeng Hongtai. Upon the establishment, it will be responsible for the construction and operation of the aforesaid battery base.