United Kingdom—Dentons has advised Britishvolt on securing planning permission for its £2.6bn battery Gigaplant situated on the former coal stocking yard of the Blyth power station in Northumberland.  The project will support production of lithium-ion batteries for the UK car industry, as well as exports, and provide up to 3,000 direct and highly-skilled jobs and around 5,000 more in the wider supply chain.  

The development supports the UK government in developing current and future generations of battery technology that is of strategic importance to the UK's manufacturing sector and key to sustaining its valuable domestic automotive industry. The application involved solutions for contaminated land, open watercourses and securing net biodiversity gains.

Planning permission was granted by Northumberland County Council, by unanimous decision, 20 July 2021, with production expected to start by 2023.

Peter Rolton, Britishvolt UK CEO:

“This is a huge win, not only for Britishvolt, but also the people of Northumberland.  The gigaplant will bring with it much-needed employment, totally regenerating the area. Britishvolt has a strong social values agenda, as well as a world-class environmental, social and governance framework.  At our very heart is doing the right thing. This project is the right thing for UK plc, and its people, on the roadmap to a low-carbon, sustainable future.”

“It has been a pleasure engaging Dentons from the start. They are professional, approachable and collaborative. Dentons’ due diligence and thoroughness is second to none."

Associate Mark Child helped steer the application from submission to consent. Roy Pinnock, partner in Dentons' UK Planning & Public Law team, said, "This is a culmination of the hard work of everyone involved in the project, including a legacy project of the late Stephen Ashworth.  The result demonstrates our ongoing role in finding solutions at the heart of challenging projects in the fields of energy, consenting and emerging technologies".

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