Opinion: What is a Giga Factory?

For months there have been strong speculation about the use of the former Royal Ordnance Factory site just to the east of Bridgwater (adjacent to Junction 23 off the M5).

This 616-acre site was for several decades the place where the UK made its ammunition. This was largely high explosives. 

The production area was huge, the site had vast numbers of buildings and even its own railway sidings. When the premises was closed, it was the subject of a major clean up and the demolition of a lot of the buildings. 

In those days we were less careful about contamination. The pressure to produce munitions, particularly during war time, also meant that less care could be taken about the environmental impact of using highly toxic materials, such as sulphur. 

Once the use had ceased however, all these problems were identified, and it has taken nearly 10 years to get to a point where the site could be developed. A huge amount of work has already been done to enable activity to recommence.

The small adjacent village of Puriton now has a shiny new bypass. This makes commercial vehicle access to the M5 much easier to achieve.  The site changed hands and has eventually ended up in the ownership of the Salamanca Group.

They christened it ‘Gravity’, which is a name that has stuck and suggests the vision for its future as an area for the extensive use of alternative and natural energy. 

It is rare to have a site this big in any part of the country. In the South West it is probably the only significant strategic site which could accommodate a huge new manufacturing process.

There have been several false starts. Even Elon Musk flew over to have a look. 

Progress has however now been made. It has just been confirmed that Tata Group, the Indian conglomerate which owns Jaguar Land Rover, has finally bought land at this site in order to build a £4billion Giga-Factory. Thereby creating around 4,000 jobs full time and an extensive construction project.

The Tata division which deals with battery production is called Agratas.  It is planned that it can commence construction almost immediately, with an aim of first production of batteries by 2026/ 2027. 

The 40 GWh battery is set to be the biggest battery factory in the country and by the early 2030s will contribute almost half of the projected required battery managing capacity for the group.

So, what does this development mean for Northern Devon and the South West economy? 

The planned development is so big that it will have local, regional, and national impact. The factory will be built on a fast-track basis. It is likely that there will be around 2000 workers required for the construction phase. 

This, when completed, will become a specialist employment hub with direct jobs estimated at around 4,000 (full time equivalent).

Importantly, for us, however, it is estimated that there will be around 5,000 additional jobs which form part of the supplier network needed to support the production. 

This is where the great opportunity for North Devon should be focused. It is perhaps interesting to compare this with the Hinkley C project. This now has around 10,000 workers who are being bused and trained in from all around the UK and Eastern Europe. 

Once, however, the nuclear power button is switched on, the long-term employment created is around 1,000 jobs. Many of those local companies who are supporting the construction phase will slowly but surely fulfil their role and by somewhere around the mid-2030s there will be no more work. 

This is why the Giga Factory is so important. When in full production, there will be a fantastic opportunity for many of our local companies. This should be a long-term proposition for those who are successful. 

I have looked at what is happening currently in Sunderland where there is also a Giga Factory, which supplies the Nissan plant. This is proving to be enormously valuable for the local economy. 

I would urge companies that feel they can contribute to the success of Gravity to visit the Gravity website at https://thisisgravity.co.uk/community/supply-chain