By Li Panpan

Chinese battery giant CATL’s first overseas plant kicked off its operation in Arnstadt of Thuringia state in central Germany, on January 26, with an expected annual production capacity of around 30 million lithium-ion battery cells, reported German Press Agency recently.

Matthias Zentgraf, CATL Europe President, said that at a total investment of up to €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion), the plant’s six production lines would create up to 2,000 new jobs by the end of the year.

Around 450 Chinese workers are currently employed at the plant. According to the state employment agency, around 500 local applicants are currently being trained to qualify for a job at CATL.

Around 185,000 to 350,000 electric cars from well-known European manufacturers, like BMW, can be equipped with those cells or battery modules for their electric vehicles.

Parallel to the plant at Erfurter Kreuz in Arnstadt, CATL is building an even larger battery plant in Debrecen, Hungary. Zentgraf said it would not restrict production in Arnstadt. The demand for electric car batteries is so great that Arnstadt and Debrecen complement each other, said the German Press Agency report.

Minister-President of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, welcomed the start of the factory at a ceremony in Arnstadt, "Here we have a gigafactory that has never been seen before in all of Western Europe."

In recent years, companies in China's power battery industry have been increasing their overseas presence. CATL, the company with the highest global market share, is also building its plants in regions including Europe and North America.

However, a few days ago, the US state of Virginia announced that Ford and CATL would not be able to build an EV battery plant in the state, citing possible safety risks, reported Business Korea.