Greentech Media:

A slew of recent announcements has left Europe poised to overtake North America in terms of battery manufacturing capacity by 2023, analyst figures show.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) expects European nameplate lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity to top 198 gigawatt-hours a year by 2023, up from roughly 18 gigawatt-hours a year today. This more than tenfold growth over the next few years should allow Europe to overtake North America, which is set to have around 130 gigawatt-hours a year of manufacturing capacity by 2023, according to the analyst firm.

“Europe is moving away from being a laggard to committing serious amounts of capital and state support,” said Logan Goldie-Scot, head of energy storage at BNEF.

However, neither region will come anywhere close to matching the battery manufacturing capacity forecast for China. China is expected to boast around 800 gigawatt-hours of annual manufacturing capacity by 2023, or two-thirds of a global total of just over 1.2 terawatt-hours, BNEF figures show.

Furthermore, much of the manufacturing capacity currently being built or planned in Europe belongs to Chinese and other Asian manufacturers.

China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology, for example, is investing in a 14-gigawatt-hour-a-year battery factory in Germany after signing EV supply deals with German carmakers BMW and Volkswagen. Another Chinese battery manufacturer, Svolt Energy Technology, is planning a European base with 24 gigawatt-hours of production capacity a year by 2025. Elsewhere, South Korean manufacturers including LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation are planning to expand their European operations.

More: Europe set to race past U.S. in battery manufacturing