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The construction of CATL’s battery plant in the Debrecen Southern Economic Zone, where trial production is scheduled to start this year, is becoming increasingly impressive. The company was asked by Médiacentrum Debrecen how the construction of the factory is progressing, how they are trying to reduce their water needs and how they want to achieve carbon neutrality. They also discussed how many employees they have and what further plans they have in terms of social responsibility.
At the end of last year, it was announced that the building of their Debrecen factory was completed, and the plant is undergoing mechanical and electrical installations. How is the construction progressing now, and what are the main work processes that you still have ahead of you in the coming months?
Last year, we completed the structural work of our cell factory. Since then, we have been working on the construction of the mechanical and electrical systems, as well as the installation of the production equipment. We will complete these works by the end of the year.
Previously was stated that production would start in Debrecen in 2025. When is it expected that trial production will start and when is serial production expected?
We will start trial production when all mechanical equipment and systems have been built and the facility is fully completed. After that, we will gradually increase the number of production lines and production capacity.
Battery demand in 2024 did not turn out as everyone expected. How did CATL do globally?
Last year is not yet a closed business year, so we do not yet have final numbers.
“It is certain that in the long term, e-mobility is the future of transportation, and fluctuations in demand are only a snapshot. We firmly believe that the electrification of motor transport is an unstoppable and necessary process.“
Have you changed your plans because of the uncertainties in the electric car market? Will the second and third phase of the Debrecen plant be built? If so, when are they scheduled?
We are confident in the long-term growth of the industry, which will remain the engine of our success. We are a market leader in the development of e-mobility solutions, batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, and innovation is our key driver. This is no surprise, with 20,000 engineers working every day in our 6 R&D centres to deliver the best solutions for our customers. According to SNE research, CATL (measured in cell capacity) increased its sales by 31.7 percent in 2024, growing its global market share to 37.9 percent. CATL’s investment in Debrecen is progressing according to plan. The cell plant is on schedule to start production this year.
CATL founder and chairman Robin Zeng recently told Reuters that if US President Donald Trump opens the door to Chinese investment in the electric vehicle industry, CATL will consider building a US plant. If CATL expands in the US because of possible safeguard tariffs, could this have an impact on their plans for Debrecen?
CATL aims to make its advanced battery technology available worldwide, contributing to the achievement of international sustainability goals. Our Debrecen plant will mainly produce battery cells and modules for our European partners, who are well-known automotive companies.Our Debrecen plant is currently the largest in Europe and we are proud to be located in Debrecen, Hungary. We believe that our investment will be a long-term success story for the city, the region and our company. Hungary has a long history in the automotive industry, the necessary raw materials are available nearby and we can easily serve our European partners from Hungary, so in the long term we want to stay in Debrecen and have good neighbourly relations with the people of the city and the region.
What permits have been granted for the first phase of thefactory and what permits are still pending?
As a global market leader and an international brand, it is of utmost importance for CATL to ensure that its investments comply with EU and Hungarian legislation.
As with our other sites, such as the one in Germany, our construction site in Debrecen is an extremely complex project, which means that hundreds of permits are required during the investment. In this process, we rely on experts in many fields (such as engineering, environment and safety).
We have valid building, uniform environmental, industrial safety and disaster prevention permits for our project.
How many employees would you hire before you start series production and how many employees do you currently have?
We have already filled several positions at the CATL factory in Debrecen and recruitment is ongoing. We currently employ more than 500 people and our target is to grow to 2,000 by the end of 2025.
How many of your staff are Hungarian and how many are foreign nationals?
CATL’s priority is to recruit employees from Debrecen, the Debrecen region and Hungary. Chinese professionals are constantly coming to Debrecen in order to transfer specific skills and technology to local workers. They will install the production lines and help train the local workforce with their experience in this innovative field.
We currently employ more than 500 people, with expatriates, colleagues temporarily staying in Hungary, accounting for less than 30% of the total.
It was also previously announced that the company is placing great emphasis on building an environmental monitoring system. Have you carried out baseline surveys to this end? If so, how many times and when?
The company operates at all times in accordance with its current IPPC permit. The IPPC permit precisely regulates our measurement obligations for air, soil, groundwater and noise, which we fully comply with. The provisions of the IPPC permit regulate both baseline and operational measurement obligations, which we have carried out so far in 2022 and 2023.
The company also wants to reduce its water requirements by using so-called adiabatic cooling towers. What exactly does this mean and how do they reduce water requirements?
In order to optimise, we have developed a novel solution to reduce water consumption at the Debrecen plant. The solution is cooling towers that are not only suitable for cooling, but also for meeting the water requirements of the production process. This development enables adiabatic cooling, which is a process in which evaporating water effectively cools the air. The advantage of adiabatic cooling towers is that they use significantly less water than open-cycle cooling towers.
In line with the expectations of the local community, CATL Debrecen has invested significant resources in developing an optimal solution to balance water consumption.
The final solution will be approved during the upcoming licensing process.
CATL would also reduce water demand by using partially treated wastewater, grey water, in the factory. This technology is expected to be installed once production has started at their plant. How long will it take to convert the plant to this technology when it becomes available?
Grey water will also be used in the cooling towers. We have looked at the leading cooling tower suppliers whose technology is suitable for the safe use of grey water. These are commercially available solutions that we can source before production starts. When production starts, only a small part of the planned capacity will be used, so the installation of cooling towers will be phased.
According to the environmental permit, the daily water demand of the factory will be 3378 cubic metres and the daily peak water demand will be 6200 cubic metres. How much can this be reduced if you can now use grey water?
A decision on how to implement the cooling towers will be taken on the basis of studies and evaluations for internal use. Once this decision has been taken, the submitted permit application will provide details of water use for both the currently permitted and planned activities.
The government agency also required your company to provide a tree cover of native and indigenous species in the project area, in open green spaces, mainly along the property boundaries. How many trees do you plan to plant on your site and when do you plan to do so?
As part of our commitment to green spaces and biodiversity, we plan to plant 385 native and indigenous trees on our site, mainly along the property boundaries. In addition, we will plant more than 5,000 shrubs with nursery-quality plants and we will also carry out turfing with an extensively maintained, drought-tolerant grass seed mix.
This will be a continuation of our 2024 initiative, during which we planted 200 trees together with the Municipality of Debrecen. In line with CATL’s global sustainability strategy to achieve carbon neutrality in the entire battery value chain by 2035, we are also striving for sustainability in Debrecen, so we will continuously improve the green spaces of our facilities.
Recently there was another protest in Debrecen over battery production. What message would you give to the protesters and how would you try to reassure them?
Transparency and public information through the media is key for CATL, so our company pays special attention not only to answering enquiries from the press, but also to regularly inform the national and international media about the milestones of the project. CATL does not comment on political issues or topics.
Have you experienced this kind of resistance and concern about your investments in other countries?
When CATL established its first European base in Germany, we did not face any resistance. In both Debrecen and Arnstadt, CATL chose industrial parks for its factories.
In Germany, after announcing our investment and the number of jobs we planned to create, the local community reacted very positively.
In contrast, the situation was different in Hungary. Many people were worried about our investment. We are actively working to allay these concerns and are committed to being a responsible and good neighbour to the people of Debrecen.
Earlier the company also announced that all their factories, including the one in Debrecen, will be carbon neutral. It may be asked whether it would not be easier to build a new factory from scratch to operate without carbon dioxide emissions than to convert it to carbon neutrality later. What is the reason for not doing so in Debrecen, and when was the target date for achieving carbon neutrality in Debrecen?
If it were possible to build a carbon-neutral plant from scratch, CATL would be the first to do so. We already have nine factories certified carbon neutral and are doing everything we can to achieve carbon neutral production and logistics, pioneering developments in this area internationally. Achieving carbon neutrality is a process of building solar power plants on the roofs of our buildings, launching large-scale greening projects around our factories and using green energy supplied by our partners in manufacturing. Carbon neutrality cannot be achieved immediately, it takes time and it requires taking into account the needs of our customers, optimising production and logistics. CATL relies on sound ESG management to achieve its global sustainability goals. In 2023, the company announced its ambition to achieve carbon neutrality in its core business by 2025 and in its entire supply chain by 2035. Along this line, the company has developed six related projects: zero carbon design, zero carbon factories, zero carbon supply, zero carbon manufacturing, zero carbon energy and circular ecosystem to comprehensively drive the achievement of carbon neutrality targets.
How would carbon neutrality be achieved?
Our company has been working on offsetting and minimising carbon emissions from the start of operations. Our carbon offset reports and ESG reports are public documents and can be found on our website.
Where would you get the energy to run your operations?
CATL is negotiating long-term contracts and focusing on sustainable energy sources.
The importance of corporate social responsibility for the company is often mentioned. What other ideas do you have in this area?
In 2023, we started our social activities in and around Debrecen, and we would like to continue them in the long term. CATL contributed to the establishment of a salt room for medical purposes in the Pallagi Street institution of the Social Service of the Municipality of Debrecen,and we also handed over gift packages to secondary school students studying in the institutions of the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre.
We continued our corporate social responsibility initiatives in 2024. In addition to the elderly, we attach particular importance to supporting children, and have twice provided assistance to the University of Debrecen Clinical Centre for Paediatrics to purchase medical equipment and organised a children’s day for needy families in Debrecen. We are also pleased to have been able to make a major contribution to the medical treatment abroad of a kindergarten-age boy from Debrecen, who has since started his recovery. Last year we sponsored Debrecen’s most important cultural events, including the Debrecen Drive, the Campus Festival and the Flower Carnival.
We plan to continue to focus on these key areas in 2025, with a presence at key events in the city, support for children and the elderly, and further strengthening our links with the educational institutions where the future workforce will learn.
From time to time, the idea comes up that the Debrecen football team could use a generous sponsor. Does CATL have a global position on whether it supports sports clubs and associations, and if so, whether such support is available in Debrecen?
We are constantly looking for ways to support local communities, including sponsoring sports clubs and associations. We plan to focus on long-term sponsorship after the launch of our cell production activities.
Source and photo credit:dehir.hu
