VW, Gotion plan €3.2bn battery JVs

Gotion High-tech and Volkswagen Group’s (VOW3d) battery unit PowerCo have outlined plans to invest approximately €3.222 billion to set up three joint ventures focused on lithium-ion batteries and cathode materials. The investment will be split between Gotion’s expected contribution of about €1.598 billion and PowerCo’s roughly €1.62 billion, with funding to be provided in stages rather than up front. The ventures are planned in Valencia in Spain, Šurany in Slovakia and Kenitra in Morocco, reflecting a geographic spread across Europe and North Africa. Production from these facilities is intended to prioritise Volkswagen (VOW3d) and PowerCo’s battery requirements in Europe.

The projects are designed to expand both cell manufacturing and upstream materials capacity within Volkswagen’s supply chain. Alongside cell plants in Spain and Slovakia, the Moroccan venture will focus on lithium-iron-phosphate cathode materials, supporting the wider battery ecosystem. The companies have indicated that construction for each site is expected to take no more than five years, though the actual schedule will depend on construction progress.

The largest of the three ventures will be based in Valencia, Spain, with an estimated investment of about €2.26 billion. The project aims to build a lithium-ion battery plant with planned annual production capacity of around 29.1 GWh. Structurally, Gotion will take a 49% stake in the existing PowerCo Spain entity via a capital increase, while PowerCo will retain a 51% share, keeping majority ownership of the Valencia operation.

The Valencia plant is positioned as a core component of the overall investment package, accounting for the majority of committed capital and capacity. Its output is intended to help meet Volkswagen’s European battery demand, supported by the additional capacity and materials from the other two joint ventures.

In Šurany, Slovakia, Gotion and PowerCo plan to invest about €480 million in a lithium-ion battery project targeting roughly 8.4 GWh of annual capacity. In this joint venture, Gotion will hold a 51% stake, while PowerCo will own 49%. The Slovak facility is intended to complement the Valencia plant by adding further cell production within the European Union.

The third joint venture is planned in Kenitra, Morocco, also with an expected investment of about €480 million. This project will construct a lithium-iron-phosphate cathode materials plant with annual capacity of about 100,000 metric tons. As with the Slovak venture, Gotion is set to hold 51% of the Moroccan joint venture, with PowerCo owning the remaining 49%, providing Volkswagen’s battery operations with a dedicated supply of LFP cathode materials.

For all three projects, the companies have indicated that construction is expected to be completed within a period of no more than five years for each site, subject to how work progresses. Some filings note that the stated construction scope may exclude land and factory buildings, suggesting certain site elements could be handled separately from the joint-venture budgets. Together, the staged funding approach and multi-year timelines frame the build-out of new capacity as a phased process aligned with Volkswagen’s future battery requirements in Europe.