(Yicai Global) Jan. 30 -- Contemporary Amperex Technology has kicked off production at its first overseas plant in Thuringia, Germany, which is also the first big battery manufacturing base in western Europe.

The production start marks the first time that western Europe has turned out batteries on a large scale, CATL’s Europe President Matthias Zentgraf said at the opening ceremony on Jan. 26, The Paper reported yesterday.

At full capacity, the EUR1.8 billion (USD2 billion) plant can make 30 million battery cells a year, enough for 185,000 to 350,000 electric vehicles, The Paper noted.

The factory will put into operation five production lines this year and begin large-scale output of battery cells mid-year, Zentgraf said, noting that it is expected to meet the initial capacity target of 14 gigawatt-hours early next year.

CATL, based in Ningde, China, will supply local carmakers with the battery cells from its German plant. They have normally received batteries shipped from China. The raw materials for the power packs will still come mainly from China.

The plant expects to further localize its supply chain in the long run and will organize a meeting with suppliers around Weimar later this year to build links with suppliers, Zentgraf said.

CATL expects to receive local government approval in June to raise the German plant’s capacity to 24 GWh, Reuters reported on Jan. 26.

The company unveiled plans last August to build a plant in Hungary, its second overseas, with a total investment of EUR7.3 billion. With an expected annual capacity of 100 GWh, construction work is expected to begin in the second half of this year and the plant is scheduled open in two to three years. Once it reaches full capacity, the factory will make CATL Europe’s largest battery producer.

CATL’s installed battery capacity doubled to 165.7 GWh in the first 11 months of 2022 from a year earlier, a 4.9 percentage-point increase to account for 37 percent of the global market, according to data from market research firm SNE Research. Second-ranked BYD had a 13.6 percent market share.

Editor: Futura Costaglione