A company in Porto Portugal that makes lithium battery packs

Chinese battery manufacturer CALB has confirmed its plans to build a production facility for lithium-ion batteries in Portugal. The factory with an annual capacity of 15 gigawatt-hours is intended to start production in 2028. According CALB, the investment amounts to two billion euros.

To be more specific, the deal was signed with Global Parques, a subsidiary of the Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal (Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade, or AICEP). According to Agência Lusa, the plan is to build the lithium-ion cell factory in Sines, Setúbal.

Alongside Spain, Portugal is leveraging its abundant lithium deposits to build a fully integrated supply chain, covering: Strengthening Europe's battery ecosystem by reducing reliance on Chinese manufacturers will enhance supply chain security and create a more resilient local production network for lithium-ion batteries.

The company will build cells and ready-to-install packs there. According to Reuters, CALB wants to produce lithium batteries in Portugal with a total annual capacity of 15 gigawatt hours, corresponding to around 187,000 batteries for electric vehicles per year. The batteries will be manufactured “mainly [for EVs] in the European market.”

The media reports do not specifically mention the cell chemistry. They only refer to “lithium batteries.” CALB is reportedly investing 2 billion euros in the project, which is classified as an IPCEI project ('Important Projects of Common European Interest') in the EU and is subsidised accordingly.

However, this company is the seventh largest in the world, beating SVolt and Gotion. Portugal may get its first cell factory thanks to CALB, but that is not set in stone yet. The Chinese cell manufacturer announced on WeChat that it signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Portuguese government.