Chinese CATL to begin production next year in Hungary!

A battery plant China’s CATL is building in Debrecen (E Hungary) will start production in 2025, the company’s general director for operations in Europe said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Jason Chen said the investment was “progressing well”, with the production hall structure complete and building installation work underway. Nothing stands in the way of production starting in 2025, according to plan, he added.

Responding to customer demand, he said CATL had started assembly of battery modules in a 60,000sqm hall it was renting next to the site of the plant. He added that the battery cells for the modules were being delivered from China.

Chen said Debrecen’s location and logistics infrastructure, as well as strong training programmes at local educational institutions, had made the city the “optimal” choice for the investment when CATL took its decision two and a half years earlier.

Photo: FB/CATL

He said production would take place in a closed system and CATL had made a priority of setting up and operating an environmental protection monitoring system. CATL is using adiabatic coolers and greywater at the plant, reducing water consumption in the manufacturing process by around 50pc, he added.

CATL’s plans in Debrecen have a horizon that extends for decades and it aims to be a valuable member of the local community, while contributing to the European Union’s green transition along with its base in Germany, Chen said.

PR manager Noémi Sidló said CATL had already recruited 400 people. Next year, it will participate at 23 job fairs, she added.

She noted that CATL had signed strategic cooperation agreements with universities in Debrecen and Miskolc and with vocational schools in Debrecen and Berettyóújfalu.

CATL factory in Germany. Photo: facebook.com/drpappl

Balázs Szilágyi, CATL Debrecen’s public affairs director, said the company was still looking for a site in Europe for a battery recycling plant.

He said headcount at the battery plant in Debrecen would exceed 1,000 by the middle of 2025 and reach 2,000 by year-end. Headcount will climb to 2,600 when the plant reaches full capacity in 2026, he added.

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