Europe will see another battery plant come online in 2026. China-based battery maker Gotion High-tech and Slovak startup InoBat plans to build a battery factory in Slovakia. The facility will initially have an annual production capacity of 20GWh.
Gotion and Inobat have formed a joint venture, Gotion Inobat Batteries (GIB), for the project. According to InoBat, GIB and the Slovak government signed an MoU on November 22 for the construction of the plant in Surany, southern Slovakia.
Inobat said the factory will occupy 65 hectares of land and is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs. Its annual production capacity will stay at 20GWh at the development stage and could reach 40GWh later.
The news came after Gotion said in September that it aims to build a battery plant in Middle Europe with Inobat, of which it has acquired a 25% strategic stake.
According to the MoU signed on Wednesday, GIB plans to begin constructing the factory in 2024. The Slovak government will offer subsidies to the project and arrange the land. It will also prepare the construction site and ensure the connection to the electrical grid. Gotion and Inobat's investment in the plant was unknown.
InoBat said the Surany plant targets the start of production in the second quarter of 2026 and is scheduled to achieve full-scale production in 2027.
The project is a critical foreign investment for Slovakia. Denisa Sakova, Slovakia's economy minister, said in a statement that the country could shine again on the map of countries with technologically advanced industries because of the investment. Sakova said battery production will go hand in hand with Slovakia's tradition of automotive manufacturing.
Gotion, one of the world's top 10 battery makers, has been growing its footprints in Europe. The company recently signed an MoU with Pod Point, a leading EV charging service provider in the UK, to develop home energy storage systems. InoBat will also participate in the project.
In September, Gotion launched the first battery made at its German plant. According to Steven Cai, Gotion's CTO, the facility will eventually have an annual production capacity of 20GWh and create an output value of EUR2 billion (US$2.14 billion).
