Chinese company to invest 7 billion euros in Hungarian battery plant

The plant will be located in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city

Last week, authorities in Hungary announced they had signed a deal with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), a Chinese firm, to construct one of the biggest battery manufacturing facilities in the European Union.

The facility will be set up in the industrial zone at Debrecen, while the finished plant will occupy 221 hectares and employ 9,000 people. Additionally, the project has a price tag of about 7.34 billion euros for the 100 GWh production site, representing one of the largest ever foreign investments in Hungary.

It will fuel Europe’s sustainable mobility push

The new Chinese plant in Debrecen will be focused on producing batteries for electric cars, which would help to fuel Europe’s bid for sustainable mobility.

According to a statement by CATL, Debrecen’s proximity to Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen’s production plants makes it a key point in the sustainable mobility production chain emerging in the bloc.

Additionally, Markus Schäfer, Management Board Member at Mercedes-Benz said that the German car manufacturer would be the first client of the new battery plant. Moreover, he pointed out that the plant would produce carbon-neutral batteries, fueling the next generation of EVs.

Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade was quoted in a press release, explaining that Hungary aims to be the exception when it comes to the recession landscape in the European Union.

He continued by saying that Hungary wants to do that by continuing to attract state-of-the-art foreign investments while also offering stability and high-quality logistical operations.