Britishvolt has appointed Ray Macera as the project director to lead development of the UK's first battery gigafactory.

The factory is set to be sited on a former RAF base in Bro Tathan, South Wales and will house Britishvolt’s manufacturing and R&D facilities. 

Macera joins Britishvolt as a veteran of leading large-scale automotive projects, most recently, the Gestamp pressing facility that supplies Jaguar Land Rover’s Nitra plant in Slovakia.

He will report directly to Britishvolt chief executive Orral Nadjari.

Nadjari said: “Our mission is for the gigaplant to begin supplying the automotive and energy industries with world-class batteries, powering the electric revolution.

“So it’s essential that we hire world-class talent and forge leading partnerships to help us achieve our goal.”

Britishvolt signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Welsh Government to develop the 30 GWh battery manufacturing plant in July this year.

The new factory could enable the scalable production of a portfolio of lithium ion batteries, creating and expanding a manufacturing and supply chain to support the UK's Road to Zero emissions targets, and transition to electrification.

Back in Wales, it is anticipated that the initial £1.2 billion of investment from the company could eventually lead towards up to 3,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2021.