East Yorkshire bosses would welcome plans for a giggafactory
A Hull City Council spokesperson said the recently approved Humber Freeport could provide “excellent opportunities” for one in the region
Hull City Council and East Yorkshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) have both said they would welcome plans for an electric vehicle battery ‘gigafactory’ locally amid talks for potential sites nationally.
A Hull City Council spokesperson said the recently approved Humber Freeport could provide “excellent opportunities” for a gigafactory similar to those built by car maker Tesla in the US.
Jonathan Oxley, manager of the HEY LEP’s Humber Industrial Cluster Plan, said the region’s land availability, skills base and manufacturing industry could make it an “attractive prospect” for a site.
It comes as the UK's going to be producing a lot more electric cars after Nissan announced a new one billion pound factory making batteries in Sunderland.
It'll lead to more than 6-thousand new jobs - most of them in the supply chain.
The spokesperson said:
“Hull City Council would welcome discussions on potential new gigafactories, given Hull’s existing strategic place in the offshore wind supply chain with the hugely successful Siemens–Gamesa blade factory.
“The Humber Freeport sites could provide excellent opportunities for this kind of development, alongside our proximity to the rapidly developing offshore wind industry.
“Recent investors have praised the skills and adaptability of the Hull workforce, together with the range of high quality training providers in the city.”
Mr Oxley said low carbon business activity on the Humber’s South Bank already showed the region’s “potential” for more green industry.
The manager said:
“Though the Hull and East Yorkshire area isn’t currently home to any automotive manufactures, we have a long history of manufacturing in the region and could be well-placed situated for a development of this nature.
“The Humber is the largest industrial cluster in the UK and is working hard on plans to decarbonise substantially by 2030 and to Net Zero by 2040, which HEY LEP supports through the Innovate UK-funded Humber Industrial Cluster Plan, alongside CATCH and our industry partners.
“We are already seeing the potential for synergies between low-carbon electricity, battery technology and hydrogen production being evaluated in the Humber region through the ITM Gigastack project between ITM Power, Orsted and Phillips 66 on the South Bank.
“Combining all of these factors, with the Humber Freeport for export of products, our region could certainly make for an attractive proposition for a battery gigafactory.”