First European Renault-Nissan Alliance battery plant under construction

The construction of the advanced lithium-ion batteries production plant has started in Sunderland, in the United Kingdom. This is the first Renault-Nissan Alliance battery production plant to be built in Europe.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place yesterday at Nissan’s Sunderland car plant. Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. carried out the ceremony which marks the launch of the project worth 210-million pounds.

The new facility will have 25,000m2 and should be ready in the beginning of 2012, producing 60.000 unites per year in the early stages. The Sunderland plant will supply batteries for both Nissan and Renault electric vehicles (EVs).

Thanks to the construction of the plant 200 jobs are expected to be created at Nissan and further 600 across the UK supply chain.

A second Alliance battery plant is planned for Portugal in Cacia and plans have also been announced to produce batteries at Renault's Flins plant in France.

"Europe will play a key role in the Alliance's global commitment to offer an emission-free future for road transport, and today marks another important step towards that goal,” said Shiga at the groundbreaking ceremony.

He added, "When operational, the battery plants in both Sunderland and Portugal will support the launch of zero-emission electric vehicles across Europe on an unprecedented scale."

Nissan’s Sunderland plant has recently been chosen as well to become a production location for the Nissan LEAF electric vehicle. The UK plant should start producing the LEAF in 2013 on the plant's ‘Number 2' production line alongside the Juke, the compact crossover car recently unveiled.