With an investment of EUR 7.3 billion, China’s CATL, the largest player in the global battery market, is building a factory in the city. The battery factory, with a capacity of 100 gigawatt-hours, will be built in several phases on 221 hectares of land in the Southern Economic Zone of Debrecen. After each phase is completed, the plant will employ 9,000 people.
Speaking at the signing ceremony for the project, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that CATL needs to build the plant quickly because they want it to be in production by the beginning of 2025. Mercedes and BMW are waiting to buy their electric batteries.
After the contract was signed, the first job advertisements appeared on CATL’s LinkedIn page. They are looking for colleagues in the financial area.
Mayor of Debrecen László Papp previously said it is expected that the professions of electrical engineer, chemical engineer and automotive engineer will be in demand.
The Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the world’s largest battery manufacturer, produced almost 97 gigawatt-hours of capacity from lithium-ion batteries for electric cars in 2021, taking a 33 percent share of the global market. They aim to increase production to 500 gigawatt-hours by 2025 and 800 gigawatt-hours by 2030.
Founded just 11 years ago, the company’s partners include BMW (which is also building a plant in Debrecen), Hyundai, Honda, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes and Volvo.
