Construction starts on Tesla Megapack battery factory in Shanghai

Developer Lin-gang Group is reported to be overseeing the construction of the factory, which will be able to produce 10,000 Megapack battery storage units a year.

It will be located close to Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, which produces Tesla cars and is the firm’s largest plant outside of the US.

The new plant is set to cost around 1.45 billion yuan (US$203.9 million) and will span an area of 200,000 sq m, according to the administration of the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The plant is set to start production in early 2025.

Tesla’s megapacks can each store 3.9 megawatt-hours of energy, which is enough to power 3,600 households for an hour. The battery storage systems are designed to help power companies stabilise energy grids.

Lu Yu, an official of the Lin-gang Special Area Administration told China’s Xinhua news agency, “With Tesla’s benchmark project, we anticipate that within the next three to five years, an industrial cluster centered around energy storage will rapidly emerge.”

News of the construction start comes at a time of increased tension between the US and China.

US President Joe Biden last week unveiled a series of increased tariffs on Chinese goods, including electric vehicles and construction equipment, aimed at bolstering US manufacturing.

US slaps increased tariffs on Chinese goods used in construction The US government has announced that it is raising tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods, including on materials and machinery used in the construction industry