PowerCo Sagunto: gigafactory to start in 2027 with 30 GW and Gotion as partner
Gotion's entry, with 49% of the joint company, raises the initial capacity of PowerCo's gigafactory in Sagunto to 30 GW a year, enough for cells for over 300,000 vehicles, with start-up delayed to 2027.
PowerCo's battery cell gigafactory in Sagunto will start with more capacity than planned, but later than planned. With the Chinese partner Gotion inside the joint company (49% of the capital), the plant will begin operating in 2027 with up to 30 GW a year, the volume needed to make cells for more than 300,000 vehicles annually.
The jump is 50% over the previous plan. Until now the factory was to open with two production blocks of 10 GW each, 20 GW in total; with Gotion there will be two blocks of 15 GW. The figure repeated for years, batteries for nearly 500,000 electric cars a year, needs careful reading. It referred to the first two phases together, with 40 GW, not to the start-up. The 300,000 vehicles now announced are only the first stage, and reaching 500,000 also requires completing the second phase.
The full project is split into three phases. Each includes two cell production buildings, two charging and discharging complexes (the "formation and ageing" areas) and one logistics building. The site will also have wastewater treatment plants, a waste management centre and a 150 MW solar plant. Current works focus on the first two buildings. The second phase is still in planning, although PowerCo keeps its commitment to the Generalitat Valenciana (the Valencian regional government) to build it, with a design that will copy the first. The third, which would take capacity to 60 GW, is the most uncertain, because it depends on how the market and demand for electric cars develop.
The delay to 2027 has two causes. One is the change of contractor to design and build the clean rooms, critical facilities for making cells. The other is the review of the technological, production and operational set-up after Gotion joined. The plan is to finish the first block this year, begin production in early 2027 and complete the second building of phase one a few months later. That phase involves an investment of around 3,000 million euros. The project keeps its investment of more than 2,300 million and its target of over 1,500 direct jobs in these two blocks.
To gauge the change, go back to the start of construction. In March 2023, Volkswagen presented the factory with an initial annual capacity of 40 GWh (the unit it used then); today's 30 GW start-up is below that figure. The group spoke of a site of about 130 hectares in Sagunto, reaching 200 with the planned supplier park, and named the Martorell and Pamplona plants among the destinations for the cells. It also announced more than 3,000 direct jobs in the future, double the 1,500 of the initial phase. In January 2024, Sagunto City Council spoke of 3,000 direct and about 12,000 indirect jobs, and noted that the Generalitat had bought land for Battery Campus Sagunt, a specialised training centre for 400 students.
The plant will make LFP cells (lithium iron phosphate). This chemistry avoids cobalt, although its energy density is around 30% lower than that of LiCoO2 cells. The company estimates that LFP could account for between 40% and 65% of European demand in 2030. Sagunto's output will mainly serve Volkswagen group electric vehicles, including the small-platform models built in Martorell and Navarra, although the standard-factory concept would allow supplying other European plants if demand requires it.
The alliance became public in late September. According to elperiodic.com on 29 September 2026, Volkswagen, PowerCo and Gotion High-Tech will form a joint company to develop and operate the Valencian plant. El Periódico de Aquí reported a day earlier that PowerCo keeps 51% and Gotion holds 49%. Electrive noted that Gotion's stock exchange filing sets a maximum construction period of five years for each project, and that the deal still needs shareholder and regulatory approval. In October 2024, the same outlet had reported that state aid under the PERTE (national strategic recovery and economic transformation programme) for the Sagunto plant was rising from 98 to 152 million euros.
The calendar is what remains to watch: the first block should be finished before the year ends, and the pending approvals of the Gotion deal will show whether the 2027 start holds. According to Valencia Plaza, with data from Volkswagen Group, Sagunto City Council, Wikipedia, elperiodic.com, El Periódico de Aquí and electrive.com.