Britishvolt site: More time given for gigafactory to be built

A computer-generated image of what the potential Britishvolt site would have looked like in Northumberland

A council has given the new owners of Britishvolt more time to build a planned battery factory.

Northumberland County Council has extended a buy-back clause on the land at the former Blyth Power Station.

The council's contract allowed it to buy back the land from Britishvolt if work was not completed in a set time.

Recharge Industries, which bought Britishvolt after it went in to administration, said it remained committed to the gigafactory.

Britishvolt bought the land in 2021 for £2m with plans to build a vast factory for the manufacture of electric car batteries.

The council's buy-back clause meant it was able to buy back the site for the same amount if development was not completed within 39 months of obtaining planning permission.

In January, Britishvolt collapsed into administration, throwing the project into jeopardy.

The new owners have said they still intend to go ahead with the gigafactory, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

However, it was agreed the original deadline for the buy-back clause was now too tight. Leading councillors agreed to extend the deadline - although that date was not specified in public.

The factory could bring thousands of high-skilled jobs to south-east Northumberland, council bosses hope

Speaking at the meeting, council leader Glen Sanderson confirmed his administration remained committed to the gigafactory.

"When we originally parted with this land we had a buy-back clause inserted with a number of conditions to ensure that taxpayer's money was safeguarded," he said.

"That very important clause is still there. This paper says we agree to look at a potential alteration to that, the details of which are in the private part of the meeting because they are commercially sensitive.

"But, this outlines the absolute commitment this administration has to see this land move on and become a fantastic site that will bring new jobs and more opportunities to all our residents across the county, wherever they live.

"This is going to be a very important employment area. We're going to bend over backwards as we have for the past year-and-a-half to make sure we do everything we can to get the employment opportunities within that particular area.

"This something that's very important to us."