Collapsed Britishvolt bought by Australian firm

UK battery developer Britishvolt has been acquired by Australian startup Recharge Industries.

The sale revives plans to build a £3.8 billion gigafactory in Cambois, Northumberland. If built it will be the UK’s first gigafactory.

Britishvolt called in administrators EY in January after running out of cash. The company’s financial troubles reportedly came to a head in November 2022 when the government refused to release funds from a promised grant early.

Recharge Industries is owned and run by a New York-based investment fund called Scale Facilitation. Having only been established in 2021, Recharge Industries is yet to oversee construction of a project. However it has plans to build a similar plant to the Northumberland gigafactory in Geelong, near Melbourne.

David Collard, Scale Facilitation chief executive, said: “The North East of England has a real depth of history and talent in manufacturing and engineering. I recently spent time in the area to get to know the people and the site, and I was struck by the similarities to our Recharge Industries site in Geelong, Australia.

“I was really taken by the passion and pride that the people have for the region and their determination to get behind a project that can drive lasting change. We have the right plan in place, to match and support the region’s energy and ambition to become a major player in the international battery market.”

He added: “Our technology – including an exclusive license for the intellectual property and battery technology – has been developed and validated over the last decade through C4V in the US and will be the backbone of both gigafactories in Geelong and Cambois.”

The 30GWh Northumberland gigaplant, earmarked for a 93 hectare site near Blyth, is scheduled to start producing its first batteries in 2024 and be up to full capacity by 2028.