On December 16, Envision AESC, a global leading battery technology company, announced the commencement of production at its battery gigafactory in Sunderland, UK. With an initial planned capacity of 15.8GWh, the facility can supply high-quality battery products for over 200,000 electric vehicles annually for leading automakers including Nissan, making it the largest operational battery manufacturing facility in the UK.
Decade-Long Commitment Bears Fruit
Envision AESC’s presence in the UK dates back to 2012, when the company commissioned its first battery plant in Sunderland, becoming one of Europe’s earliest large-scale power battery production facilities. According to public records, that initial facility had an annual capacity of 1.9GWh. The inauguration of this new plant marks a deepening of Envision AESC’s strategic footprint in the UK, not only meeting the rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles in the UK and European markets but also providing crucial support for the company’s future localized expansion and market leadership in energy storage business.
According to Envision AESC, the Sunderland battery gigafactory plans to achieve annual production capacity of 25GWh by 2030, with potential to expand to 40GWh. Additionally, Nissan and Envision AESC will collaborate to develop a “microgrid” project in Sunderland, creating a 100% clean energy system through battery second-life applications and renewable energy development.
Leading Position in UK Energy Storage Market
As one of the leading companies in both order volume and market delivery in the UK’s energy storage market, Envision leverages its technological advantages in AI power system solutions and AI energy storage system solutions, combined with deep insights into UK electricity demand, to successfully operate a series of energy storage system projects locally.
The most notable is the 680MW/1360MWh Carrington Storage Project in collaboration with UK-based Statera Energy. This project represents the UK’s largest single-capacity energy storage project and is regarded as a cornerstone for building the UK’s new power system. The project secured £235 million in financing in November 2025 and is expected to become operational by late 2026. Once completed, it will provide continuous power supply to approximately 2.2 million households for up to two hours.
Furthermore, Envision has partnered with UK clean energy company Field to provide a 50MWh battery energy storage system for the Whitebirk storage project in Blackburn, UK. Envision’s energy storage station project at Welkin Road in the UK has also successfully passed the UK’s stringent G99 grid connection testing, completing delivery and grid connection, continuously validating Envision’s robust grid connection capabilities and technological leadership.
Accelerating Global Expansion
As one of the earliest and most extensively globalized battery technology companies, Envision AESC has established 14 battery production bases across six countries worldwide. As of May 2025, Envision AESC has positioned 13 battery manufacturing facilities in China, Japan, the United States, the UK, France, and Spain, with nine plants officially operational.
In 2025 alone, Envision AESC commissioned three overseas facilities: the Douai plant in France, the Tennessee energy storage production line in the United States, and the new Sunderland plant in the UK. Among these, the French Douai facility commenced production in June 2025 with a total investment of €2 billion and initial planned annual capacity of 10GWh, becoming Envision AESC’s ninth operational battery plant globally. The facility received personal attendance from French President Emmanuel Macron at its inauguration ceremony and was hailed as a flagship project of France’s “reindustrialization.”
In the Asian market, Envision AESC’s Ibaraki plant in Japan has a planned capacity of 18GWh, capable of providing power battery products for 300,000 electric vehicles once fully operational. In the Chinese market, the Cangzhou plant in Hebei commenced production in November 2024 with a total planned capacity of 30GWh. The successive commissioning of these plants fully demonstrates Envision AESC’s excellent global operational and large-scale delivery capabilities.
Energy Storage Business Continues Leading Global Market
In the energy storage sector, Envision AESC has demonstrated equally impressive performance. According to data released by authoritative organization InfoLink Consulting, Envision AESC’s overseas energy storage cell shipments ranked among the global top four in 2024, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in the energy storage industry. By the end of 2024, Envision AESC had cumulatively delivered over 30GWh of 300+Ah energy storage large cells, with its large-capacity cells achieving nearly 50% market share in the global large-scale storage market.
Envision AESC’s energy storage cells have been delivered to over 200 energy storage stations in more than 20 countries, covering various application scenarios including wind-storage, solar-storage, and independent energy storage stations, while maintaining a zero major safety incident record. The company continues to deepen strategic cooperation with leading energy storage system integrators, including Envision Energy, Fluence, Powin, and Nidec, jointly advancing the development of the energy storage industry.
Looking ahead, Envision AESC anticipates that its global energy storage and power battery capacity will exceed 400GWh by 2026, contributing to the global zero-carbon transition.
