TESVOLT breaks ground on 4GWh German battery gigafactory

April 11, 2024 Editor

Visualisation of the planned Gigafactory and the research and development centre in Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Source: TESVOLT)

German energy storage solutions developer TESVOLT has started construction of a 4GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) gigafactory at its headquarters in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany.

TESVOLT is calling the factory one of the largest facilities for commercial stationary battery storage systems in Europe.

An investment volume of around €30 million ($32.2 million) is planned for the first construction phase, which includes the construction of the production facility and a fully automated high-bay warehouse.

The TESVOLT German Gigafactory, which will cover an area of almost 6,000 square metres, is scheduled to go into operation in 2025 and is expected to create more than 400 jobs.

Said Dr Reiner Haseloff, minister president of Saxony-Anhalt, in a release: “TESVOLT combines a strong sense of responsibility with immense entrepreneurial innovation. The success story that the company has written in recent years is based on this. Now a new chapter is being added. I am firmly convinced that the Gigafactory will be a showcase project for our entire country.”

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German gigafactory: A tenfold capacity increase

The new production building has two floors and is hoped to enable highly automated, efficient production of battery storage systems, says TESVOLT. The factory’s production will be characterised by a high degree of digitalisation, with fully automated robots integrated into parts of the production process.

With the new Gigafactory, TESVOLT will be able to produce up to 80,000 storage systems per year. This corresponds to a tenfold increase in current capacity.

This enables TESVOLT to participate in the dynamic market growth for commercial and industrial energy storage solutions.

The factory building will also make use of small wind turbines and a photovoltaic system to assist with the company’s ambition of CO2-neutral production.

Groundbreaking ceremony for the new TESVOLT Gigafactory with (from left): TESVOLT CFO Philipp Koecke; Christian Tylsch, District Administrator of Wittenberg; Torsten Zugehör, Mayor of Wittenberg; Urban Windelen from the German Federal Association of Energy Storage Systems; TESVOLT CTO Simon Schandert; TESVOLT CEO Daniel Hannemann; Dr Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt; Michael Kellner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection; Jörg Ebel from the German Solar Industry Association; and Member of the State Parliament Dr Heide Richter-Airijoki. (Source: TESVOLT)

TESVOLT obtains its heating energy in the new production facility from air heat pumps and heat recovery. Surplus electricity is collected in TESVOLT’s own battery storage systems.

The German Gigafactory complies with the KfW55 standard and is being built by Goldbeck as the general contractor.

Commented Daniel Hannemann, co-founder and CEO of TESVOLT: “With the new Gigafactory, we will be able to increase our production capacity for TESVOLT storage systems to up to 80,000 storage systems per year.

“We are thus also setting new international standards. This brings us one step closer to our goal of supplying every corner of the world with affordable, green energy. Because without battery storage, there will be no energy transition.”

In a second construction phase, a research and development centre will be built on the TESVOLT site over the next few years, where the company can further develop its battery storage systems.