Wates Group recently began construction on a new gigafactory in Sunderland, for Envision AESC - a world-leading Japanese electric vehicle battery technology company.

The project – the largest by single value in Wates’ 125-year history – is AESC’s second Sunderland battery plant. It will have capacity of 12 GWh and will employ more than a 1,000 people when operational in 2025. It will be powered by 100% Net Zero Carbon energy, aligning with the company’s global commitment to sustainability.

The state-of-the-art facility will produce AESC’s latest generation batteries, with 30% more energy density to improve range and efficiency, and manufacture enough batteries to power 100,000 electric vehicles annually.

It forms part of a wider £1bn partnership with Nissan and Sunderland City Council to create EV36Zero, an electric vehicle hub supporting next generation EV production and accelerating the transition to net zero carbon mobility.

The footprint of the new building will be the equivalent of 23 football pitches and use 14,000 km of mains cables. When complete the 360m long building will be longer than the nearby Northern Spire bridge across the River Wear.

Construction of the new building on the IAMP business park - which spans land in South Tyneside and Sunderland will pave the way for potential future investment that could eventually see the site generate 35GWh capacity and 4,500 new high value green jobs.