powerco is aiming to manufacture sustainable batteries in valenciapowerco se the battery company of the volkswagen group gave the starting signal for construction of its second powerco cell factory in the presence of king felipe vi spains president pedro snchez and ximo puig president of the valencian generalitat in the spanish region of valencia gigafactory valencia will start production of the unified cell in 2026 and will directly employ more than 3000 people in the future with a further up to 30000 indirect jobs potentially being created at suppliers and partners in spain according to a recent study advt the volkswagen group has made battery technology a core element of its new auto strategy and has established powerco a separate battery company since its launch in july 2022 powerco has decided on three sites for cell factories salzgitter valencia and st thomas in ontariocanada two of them already under constructionthe spanish president pedro snchez said the factory that will be built here exemplifies the spanish governments commitment to innovation and sustainable mobility it is a sign of our commitment to industry but also to the characteristics that define an entrepreneurial nation in the global market innovation territorial cohesion and publicprivate cooperationthomas schmall board of management member responsible for group technology and chairman of the supervisory board of powerco se said we are moving into the fast lane with powerco we have just broken ground for powercos second gigafactory in valencia and are already making the next step with the announcement of another gigafactory in st thomas canada our objective is to make powerco a global player in the battery business and pave the way for better mobility with sustainably manufactured battery cells the gigafactory valencia is an important milestone in thatfrank blome ceo of powerco said like the volkswagen group powerco stands for responsible conduct that includes good working conditions care for the environment and sparing use of scarce resources we want to be a good neighbor to the people in the region and make a significant contribution to economic development not only will we create more than 3000 jobs of the future but we also intend to work with the regional government to initiate targeted projects aimed at strengthening science and society advt the annual production capacity is initially 40 gwh but has the potential to be expanded to 60 gwh in the future the cell factory is being built over an area of around 130 hectares in sagunto in the immediate vicinity of valencia the valencia gigafactory will supply unified cells to the vehicle plants in martorell and pamplona among otherspowerco is aiming to manufacture sustainable batteries in valencia the cell factory will be supplied completely with green electricity generated by solar and wind power for instance by a new 250hectare solar farm in the immediate vicinity the raw material cycle will be closed directly on the site of the cell factorygigafactory valencia is a core component of the 10 billion euro investment programme called future fast forward