(Yicai Global) Dec. 10 -- Svolt Energy Technology’s chairman said the Chinese power battery maker plans to nearly double its production capacity target, with the aim of seizing 25 percent of the global market.

Svolt will spend over CNY200 billion (USD31.4 billion) to raise production capacity to 600 gigawatt-hours by 2025 from an initial goal of 320 GWh, Yang Hongxin, who is also chief executive officer, said at the Baoding-based company’s second Battery Day on Dec. 8.

The new target is even higher than the 592 GWh that bigger Chinese rival Contemporary Amperex Technology plans to have by the same year.

Svolt had just a 1 percent share of the global market in October, compared with CATL’s more than 32 percent, according to SNE Research, but its installed capacity in the first 10 months of this year surged 890 percent to 2.1 GWh from a year earlier, making it the fastest-expanding company among China’s top 10 power battery suppliers.

The firm’s six capacity expansion announcements this year, costing a total of CNY67.6 billion (USD10.6 billion), will boost its annual capacity to 182.6 GWh once completed.

“The company has received orders for almost 400 GWh of passenger vehicle batteries for 2025,” Yang said. “The construction of some new plants will be completed by 2025 and with them, the company’s effective battery output is expected to reach near 600 GWh.”

Demand from the electric car and power storage industries is expected to exceed 1.8 terawatt-hours by 2025, so based on an estimated capacity utilization rate of 75 percent, Svolt will need to reach 600 GWh to meet demand, Yang said.

When asked about large-scale capacity expansion plans, Yu Qingjiao, chairman of China’s Battery 100 Association, told Yicai Global that most battery makers are rational and build projects in phases subject to market demand, so as to reduce the possibility of overcapacity.

Global installed power battery capacity is expected to reach 289 GWh this year, up 111 percent from 2019, and may climb to 1,380 GWh by 2025, according to recent a research report from CITIC Securities.

Last year, Svolt invested EUR2 billion (USD2.3 billion) to build a power battery plant in Germany with an annual capacity of 20 GWh. The firm’s first European factory will start operations next year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione