Port Talbot battery plant to create 'hundreds of jobs'

OXIS Energy has an office in Belo Horizonte, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais

A rechargeable battery manufacturer will establish a plant in Port Talbot with the goal of creating hundreds of jobs within the next 10 years.

The OXIS Energy plant will produce components for batteries to power buses and trucks, and will also be used in drones and submarines.

The factory will export to another plant in Brazil, which will make rechargeable lithium sulphur batteries.

It has received £3.2m investment from the Development Bank of Wales.

The company, which is run by Welshman Huw Hampson-Jones, said it hoped to have created 50 jobs in Port Talbot by the end of 2020.

The factory in Brazil is a joint venture with the State Government of Minas Gerais, which wants more electric buses.

Mr Hampson-Jones said: "In many cases we shall be creating a highly skilled workforce."