Chinese battery giant CATL has launched the first phase of its traction battery production base in Yibin, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, Kallanish reports.

The company - the world's largest battery producer - held a launching ceremony last week to celebrate the “key milestone,” which will help subsidiary CATL-SC to expand into global markets. The production base will be developed in six stages at an investment tag of RMB 30 billion ($4.63 billion).

Yibin’s municipal government believes the project unveils a new stage of the “effective” coordinated development of the city’s new energy automobile industry and the traction battery industry. Thanks to a new transportation network, batteries produced at the Yibin base can be delivered to the vehicle production lines in Chengdu or Chongqing with three hours, the company says in a statement.

Another advantage cited was the abundant water resources, which should enable the manufacturer to reduce its carbon footprint to eventually reach carbon neutrality throughout the life cycle of traction batteries.

The project was first announced in September 2019, although very little detail has been disclosed to date. The 1,214-hectares base features an annual capacity of 15 gigawatt-hours in its first production phase. After two years of construction, Phase 2 should double the facility’s capacity to 30 GWh/y. It’s unclear what the final targeted production will be when the project reaches Phase 6. There are also no official details of the type of cell to be manufactured in Yibin.

Commenting on the commissioning, CATL chairman Robin Zeng said the facility is an important part of the company’s global layout.

“It’s being developed to become CATL’s most important traction battery production base with strategic significance in southwest China. Featuring higher efficiency, the Yibin production base will deliver supporting services to OEM partners not only in China, but also around the world. CATL-SC is heading on the global stage,” he concludes.