Britishvolt’s gigafactory site sold off in electric car blow

Chris Price
Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 

The site that had been earmarked for the Britishvolt gigafactory has been bought by Blackstone - Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

US private equity investors have bought the site of what had been hoped would become Britain’s first electric car battery gigafactory in a blow to Britain’s net zero ambitions.

Land in Cambois near Blyth in Northumberland had been expected to become the home of the £3.8bn Britishvolt factory before the company fell into administration last year.

However, Northumberland County Council revealed it has sold the site to Blackstone, which plans to turn the site into a data centre.

Britishvolt, which was backed by mining giant Glencore, collapsed with the loss of more than 200 jobs and had been in line for £100m in funding from the Government via its Automotive Transformation Fund.

An Australian company, Recharge Industries, had promised to buy the site before itself being hit with a winding up petition.

The Blackstone deal, for an undisclosed sum, comes after what receivers at Begbies Traynor Group described as a “complex” sales process for the 235-acre site.

Northumberland County Council leader Cllr Glen Sanderson said Blackstone’s plans would lead to an investment of up to £10bn and support as many as 4,300 jobs.

He said: “Driving growth and jobs is a key priority for this Council. Next week, Cabinet will consider this really unique opportunity for Northumberland which offers a huge boost to the regeneration and renaissance of the local area.”