The current phase of the works has an approximate duration of 6 months, which includes the excavation of more than 14 km of large trenches up to 9 meters deep and the movement of up to 70,000 m3 of earth for the installation of large drainage and channeling pipes.
In addition, the construction of prefabricated concrete is beginning, manufactured in the Valencian town of Buñol. "After a few intense months of planning, we began a much more dynamic and active phase in the work," said the company's CFO, who explained that since last May work has been carried out on the interior water channeling and drainage systems.
"PowerCo will ensure a much more efficient reuse of grey and clean water on your plot; it will reduce the discharge of clean water to the treatment plant and will promote its re-infiltration into the land, in addition to guaranteeing that in the event of large floods of the land the works can continue to advance," explained Rivera.
In this sense, he confirmed that the project to build the gigafactory "is planned sequentially, which allows different phases of work to overlap at the same time". "This will allow us to start the foundation works before the completion of the channelling work and progressively introduce the pillars as well, with the important logistical, safety and coordination challenge that this entails for our team".
The head of the company made these statements during a visit to the works accompanied by the new CEO of PowerCo Spain, Andreas Rottmann, the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, the Minister of the Environment, Vicente Martínez and the mayor of Sagunto, Darío Moreno.
Javier Rivera has confirmed that during the autumn months the work on the land of the future gigafactory will be "remarkably" intensified "with the completion of the water channeling works; the start of the foundation and the erection of the first prefabricated concrete, which will allow us to see by the end of the year the take-off of the work at height of the future warehouses". Likewise, Rivera has pointed out that new construction phases will soon be awarded "such as those corresponding to the building or construction of the dry rooms in which a large part of our production process will be developed".
However, in addition to the first work awards, the company has also already signed the purchase of a large part of the equipment necessary for the manufacture of the cells, which will begin to be installed in Sagunto throughout 2025, coinciding with the hiring of the first plant operators who will work directly with the machinery "and who will be specifically trained on our production process at the Battery Campus".
"At the Volkswagen Group we are convinced that the future is electric and that is why we are firmly committed to capturing value and investing in the start-up of gigafactories such as PowerCo's in Sagunto," said Rivera, "with what this implies in terms of improved productivity, job creation and greater competitiveness for the region." "That is why this project cannot be understood without the support of public-private collaboration," he remarked.
For his part, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, highlighted "the investment of more than 600 million" to date by the public administration through the Generalitat and Espais Econòmics for the start-up of the gigafactory and the mobility hub of Sagunto. The president explained that this amount of more than 600 million euros is focused on the implementation of the Battery Campus, the intermodal station and the structural axis, in addition to the execution of expropriations and urbanization of the land located in Parc Sagunt II.
Thus, he pointed out that this investment "joins the 3,000 million euros that are secured by PowerCo", while stating that public and private investment "advances with a firm step and hand in hand" in the Community.
To conclude, Rivera highlighted PowerCo's commitment to sustainability: "all this will be done with a clear perspective of sustainability because neither our project nor the promotion of electromobility are understood to be unrelated to the protection and respect for the environment". For this reason, he recalled that "not only will our plant be supplied by 100% renewable energy, but we also ensure that sustainability is present throughout the entire value chain, from the responsible sourcing of raw materials to the recycling of battery cells".