Spain has signed an agreement with China-based green energy company Envision Group for four projects, including a battery plant for electric cars, with 3.8 billion euros ($3.9 billion) in investment, partly funded by European Union aid.
Jose Dominguez, head of Envision Spain, said the projects would be developed jointly with Spanish renewable power company Acciona Energia.
The battery factory in Navalmoral de la Mata in the central-western region of Extremadura, will require 2.5 billion euros in investment and could create as many as 3,000 jobs. Spain’s Extramadura region has large reserves of lithium.
It would be second electric car battery project in Spain – Europe’s second-largest car producer.
Earlier, Germany-based carmaker Volkswagen said it would invest 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion) to make electric vehicles and batteries in Spain – with its partners.
Volkswagen aims to start building the 40-gigawatt-hour (GWh) plant in Sagunto near Valencia, which requires 3 billion euros in investment, in the first quarter of 2023, with serial production to start by 2026.
The Envision partnership agreement also includes a renewable hydrogen plant costing up to 900 million euros which will provide energy for a net zero emissions project, as will a wind energy park with a turbine assembly plant.
They will be built in the towns of Alcazar de San Juan and Navas del Marques in central Spain.
A digital products development centre worth 300 million euros is also planned.