100,000 jobs to be created with new funding in UK battery industry
£211 million of government funding is being funnelled into the UK's battery industry to boost research and innovation.
Last updated 21st Oct 2022
The move comes as plans are underway for the UK's largest gigafactory to be built in Coventry.
The funding is aimed to help the sector deliver 100,000 more jobs and increase the battery supply by 2040.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg visited the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UK-BIC) in Coventry to announce the plan. He told us: "It's predicted that battery technology could lead to 100,000 jobs in the UK by 2040, and it's really important, particularly for an area like Coventry, which has such an important automotive industry.
"We need to keep that automotive industry and that means having battery technology."
Jeff Pratt is the managing director at UK-BIC. He said: "I think the particular advantage of Coventry is that is that it is a fast-start site. So, obviously it is flat, it doesn't need much earth moving and they've obviously gone through the pre-planning approval stages, so the site is almost ready to go."
But, Mr Pratt said he is concerned about rising costs: "The manufacturing process is a heavy energy-user. The tariffs have moved from around about 12 pence per kilowatt hour up to 25 pence per kilowatt hour. But, we're still sitting around about double what we were a couple of years ago."
Mr Rees-Mogg said: "With regard to rising inflation, there's a huge amount of support I actually announced as business secretary to help people pay their bills this winter, so that energy-intensive industries, of which there are many in this area, will have support to ensure that they can continue to afford their operations."