With this investment, Thuringia will become the most significant location in Europe for the production of battery cells: On October 18, 2019, the Chinese corporation Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) began construction of its first production facility outside of China, to the south of Erfurt; the company intends to invest 1.8 billion euros in the medium term and create up to 2,000 jobs. Production will begin as early as in 2022 – initially with an annual capacity of 14 GWh. The decisive arguments for building the facility in Thuringia were its central location and the availability of skilled workers, research resources and renewable energy sources.
The official groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Matthias Zentgraf, President of CATL Europe, Xaiokou Ma, EU Operation General Manager, Thuringia’s Economy Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, and LEG Managing Director Andreas Krey. Matthias Zentgraf praised the benefits that the Thuringia location offers: While establishing its operations here, the company enjoyed full-service guidance from the Thuringian Minister for Economic Affairs and LEG. The site that CATL is building on is a part of LEG’s “Erfurter Kreuz” Industrial Park, which is owned and developed for investors by the State Development Corporation. The corporation has also formed a strategic partnership with the Free State of Thuringia for the research-intensive topics of factory automation and battery technology – Thuringia is intended not just to be a place for production, but also for a great deal of research and development. Moreover, the industrial partners and customers are never too far away: Thuringia is at the center of Europe and all German automotive manufacturers can be reached from here within four hours by truck. CATL has already signed contracts to the value of millions of euros with various OEMs, such as BMW and Daimler. For Thuringia, this investment offers an opportunity to grow to become a leading industrial and research location for modern storage technologies and electromobility in Germany and Europe. (hw)
