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ISG’S ‘GIGAPLANT’ AIMS TO RECHARGE NORTH EAST’S SKILLS AS ISG GEARS UP TO START CONSTRUCTION OF ONE OF EUROPE’S LARGEST BUILDINGS, BRITISHVOLT’S LITHIUM-ION BATTERY FACTORY IN BLYTH, IT HAS SET ITS SIGHTS ON CREATING A LASTING LEGACY FOR SKILLS IN THE NORTH EAST. NEIL GERRARD REPORTS
If you were to speed past the enormous lithium-ion battery ‘gigaplant’ factory that contractor ISG is building for Britishvolt in an electric car at 60mph, it would take a full 12 seconds. The £2.6bn facility in Blyth, which will produce 300,000 lithium-ion batteries for vehicles a year by 2027, is said to be the largest industrial investment in the area since Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the 1980s. The building, which occupies a 95ha site, will become Europe’s fourth largest when it is complete. Its construction is expected to take just 24 months, with the plant scheduled to become operational in 2024. It will require 31,000 tonnes of steel and will contain around 26,000 sq m of rooms that need to be cleaner than an operating theatre and drier than the desert to meet the environmental requirements for the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. “The biggest challenge we have got is that we have got to build a factory that can house whatever the battery technology needs to be for a customer who is responding to a rapidly
Peter Millett, ISG
ISG’s gigaplant for Britishvolt will cover a 95ha site and require 31,000 tonnes of steel
evolving market,” says Peter Millett, managing director engineering services – technology at ISG. ISG is enthused rather than daunted by the project, however, and none more so than Sinéad Moloney, who lives in Northumberland and has recently joined ISG as social value manager. The business is also encouraging the construction workers it needs to build the plant to come to the area – not just for the duration of the project but also to stay and help build the local skills pool and the economy. Moloney says: “I moved to Northumberland 30 years ago because I loved the people and the environment. For the past 12 years I’ve worked in social value roles for
local authorities and wasn’t looking for a change. However, when I saw the ambition of Britishvolt and ISG, I simply couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else doing such a pivotal role in my local community.” She adds: “With the demise of the UK coal-mining industry, Northumberland and Tyneside have been through some really tough times. But what we are seeing now is a rebirth. Britishvolt’s project is going to supply 2,500 high-quality jobs to the local economy.” Working in partnership with Britishvolt, which is placing a significant emphasis on its ESG (environmental, social and governance) agenda, ISG is working
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