Representatives of both companies cut the ribbon to commence works on the LFP battery cell factory in Vũng Áng Economic Zone Hà Tĩnh province. — Photo courtersy of Vingroup

HÀ NỘI – A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Friday to commence work on a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery factory in Hà Tĩnh Province.

The joint-venture LFP battery cell factory, funded by VinES and Gotion, is situated in Vũng Áng Economic Zone.

VinES Energy Solutions JSC is a member of Vingroup, and Gotion Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech.

The project has a total investment of more than VNĐ6,32 trillion (US$275 million), a scale of 14ha (34.5 acres) with a design capacity of 5GWh/year, equivalent to approximately 30 million battery cells per year.

The factory's products are rechargeable LFP battery cells, mainly used for EV batteries and energy storage systems (ESS).

With a high level of automation and a cutting-edge, optimised production process, the joint venture LFP battery cell factory will fulfil the needs of VinFast's electric vehicles that require LFP batteries and ESS products developed by VinES. In the later phase, VinES and Gotion will research and expand the project according to the market's development opportunities and potential.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Phạm Thùy Linh, CEO of VinES, said the LFP battery cell factory is a joint venture with Gotion. 

"It will create battery supply autonomy for VinFast electric vehicles and VinES development goal to become the preeminent energy solutions company."

Located next to the VinES battery pack manufacturing in the Vũng Áng Economic Zone, this new factory will complete the closed-loop production of LFP Batteries in Việt Nam, thereby improving localisation for VinFast's EVs and optimising production efficiency. In addition, the factory will also open up new development opportunities for the Vietnamese EV and clean energy industry," said Linh.  

Li Zhen, Chairman of Gotion High-Tech, said: "Vingroup is a highly respected enterprise worldwide. We are very honoured to cooperate with VinES of Vingroup to build the factory and contribute to the energy revolution, climate-friendly and economic development of Việt Nam. The VinES Gotion Hà Tĩnh Battery factory is integral to Gotion's globalisation strategy and the first LFP battery factory in Việt Nam.

"I firmly believe that the battery factory will boost the development of Việt Nam's new energy industry with the cooperation of both sides and jointly contribute to the energy revolution and climate friendliness of human society."

The facility will be the first LFP battery plant in Việt Nam and will begin mass production in the third quarter of 2024. It is expected to create approximately 500 new jobs for the local community. This is an important part of Vingroup's "3-prong" battery strategy: buying batteries from the world's best manufacturers, cooperating with partners to produce the world's best batteries and in-house battery production research and development.

In December 2021, VinES started constructing a battery manufacturing and packaging factory with a scale of 8ha (20 acres) in the first phase and a total investment of VNĐ4 trillion. After 11 months of construction, the factory is in the final stages of completion and will begin operations in December 2022, producing Lithium batteries for VinFast electric vehicles and e-buses. – VNS