Britishvolt appoints project director to lead UK battery gigafactory development

Britishvolt has appointed Ray Macera as the project director to lead development of the UK's first battery gigafactory.

The factory is set to be sited on a former RAF base in Bro Tathan, South Wales and will house Britishvolt’s manufacturing and R&D facilities. 

Macera joins Britishvolt as a veteran of leading large-scale automotive projects, most recently, the Gestamp pressing facility that supplies Jaguar Land Rover’s Nitra plant in Slovakia.

He will report directly to Britishvolt chief executive Orral Nadjari.

Nadjari said: “Our mission is for the gigaplant to begin supplying the automotive and energy industries with world-class batteries, powering the electric revolution.

“So it’s essential that we hire world-class talent and forge leading partnerships to help us achieve our goal.”

Britishvolt signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Welsh Government to develop the 30 GWh battery manufacturing plant in July this year.

The new factory could enable the scalable production of a portfolio of lithium ion batteries, creating and expanding a manufacturing and supply chain to support the UK's Road to Zero emissions targets, and transition to electrification.

Back in Wales, it is anticipated that the initial £1.2 billion of investment from the company could eventually lead towards up to 3,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2021.