Porsche may build batteries at Giga scale in Brandenburg

Porsche may locate its large battery cell factory in Germany after all, and not in North America as recent rumours suggested. According to local media, Porsche is looking at a site in Brandenburg, the same state Tesla settled in, and near another actual partner.

Local newspaper Lausitzer Rundschau, citing insiders from politics and the regional business community, reports that a “very well-known name in the car industry” is very interested in a site on the Schwarzheide/Schipkau airfield in the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz. According to research by the newspaper, Porsche and its battery subsidiary Cellforce are looking to set up shop in the Northeast German lake district, as the Lausitz region is also called.

Porsche did not deny the rumours when asked for comment but kept a low profile: Besides the factory under construction near Reutlingen, the company is examining a potential expansion to over 20 gigawatt-hours at a second location. “The decision on this is to be made by the end of 2023,” the Porsche press office said.

This corresponds to the last information we reported at the end of July. At that time, it was suspected that Porsche might prefer North America over Germany as the location for its large-scale battery cell factory. Cellforce’s first location in the inter-municipal economic area of Reutlingen-Nord/Kirchentellinsfurt is also to be expanded, but probably only up to 1.3 GWh – more is perhaps not possible there.

Talks around the airfield with a grass runway have already taken place. Still, Brandenburg’s Ministry of Economics did not want to name names when asked by the LR as the “talks must remain confidential”. Schipkau’s mayor, Klaus Prietzel, who is also chairman of the new joint planning association with the town of Schwarzheide, only stated in general terms: “The special landing field and its surroundings have long been assessed as an industrial site for large-scale commercial settlement due to its favourable location in terms of state planning.”

One point that is certainly interesting for Porsche and Cellforce is that BASF’s large factory in Germany, including the cathode material and recycling plant, is directly opposite on the other side of the A13 motorway. BASF has been Cellforce’s development partner since 2021. But BASF is reportedly building a cathode material factory in Becancour, Canada, and could also supply Cellforce in North America.

With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.

lr-online.de (in German)