Hithium has picked Navarre in Spain for a BESS gigafactory of unspecified annual production capacity
The project involves a €400 million investment that’s expected to create around 700 direct jobs
Production at the facility is planned to begin in 2027, marking Hithium’s first manufacturing site in the European Union
The Government of Navarre, an autonomous community in Spain, has signed an agreement with Chinese energy storage producer Hithium to establish a battery energy storage system (BESS) gigafactory in the region.
It will entail the development, construction, and operation of the gigafactory that will manufacture cells and assemble storage systems in stationary batteries.
The deal was formalized between Hithium and the regional government during a visit to China led by Navarre President María Chivite Navascués. It was signed in the presence of Spanish President Pedro Sánchez and Hithium Founder and Chairman Jeff Wu.
Hithium shared that the project will cost around €400 million and is expected to create approximately 700 direct jobs. Production at the facility is projected to begin in 2027.
Officials highlighted that the project will support Europe’s green energy transition while strengthening economic ties between Spain and China.
Headquartered in Xiamen, China, and founded in 2019, Hithium specializes in stationary energy storage and is expanding globally. It currently operates factories in Xiamen, Chongqing, and Heze in China and in Dallas, the US. Its Chongqing base was earlier this year listed by the World Economic Forum as the world’s first lighthouse factory dedicated to energy storage batteries (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
The Navarre facility will become its 1st manufacturing site in the European Union (EU), and the 2nd outside China.
Hithium says it chose Navarre for the BESS gigafactory because of its industrial ecosystem, including engineering capabilities, technology centers, training, universities, and vocational training. The agreement signed with Navarre follows ‘intense work of 2 years of direct contact, seven visits by Chinese representatives and four trips to China by delegations from the regional executive’.
“We believe that both Navarre and Spain offer the right commercial atmosphere for us and for other Chinese companies to develop their business in Europe,” said Hithium’s Managing Director of Strategy Development Office, Dr. Qi Tang. He expressed confidence that the project of the future battery factory in Navarre ‘will be very successful’.