It would be “the most important industrial investment of the decade in Spain” and “the largest in Valladolid since the Renault factory in 1953”. The Minister of Transport and former mayor of Valladolid, Óscar Puente (PSOE), speaks this way because the Chinese multinational Gotion High-Tech plans to allocate around 5,000 million euros to build a complete supply chain of vehicle batteries in Valladolid. This would be the first factory of this profile on European soil, given that they currently only exist in the Asian country. The project comes from the Slovak group Inobat, which has been working to build an electric battery gigafactory in Valladolid since 2023 and whose shareholder structure also includes Gotion. The oriental group seeks to establish itself in Europe in a plan blessed by the government, as on Friday 31 October the company’s top management met with president Pedro Sánchez and Puente himself, interlocutor for Asians and coordinated with the Ministry of Industry. Investors have already visited the country and hope to move forward as soon as possible to secure European production in times of tariffs and distribution failures.
The expected investment, anticipated by The north of Castileconsists of putting into operation the first European center that develops the complete battery supply chain. Typically similar plants assemble the components, but Valladolid also intends to produce the anodes and cathodes essential for these energy storage devices. Óscar Puente, in conversation with EL PAÍS, explains that Sánchez has promised maximum institutional support so that the estimated 5,000 million arrive in the city and, with them, a large direct and indirect industrial conglomerate typical of sectors like this. “It would involve building a complete supply chain for car batteries or large accumulators and for Valladolid to produce 70% of the anodes and cathodes manufactured in the European Union; there are many battery factories, but we are alone in this,” says the minister, coordinated with Industry and taking advantage of the fact that he has had a relationship with the Slovakian company since his time as a councilor in Valladolid.
He went to the Slovakian headquarters in 2023 with the then head of industry, Reyes Maroto, to see how to replicate it in Valladolid. “It will be the most important industrial investment of the decade in Spain and the largest in Valladolid since Renault in 1953,” celebrates Puente, specifying that Li Zhen and his team met with Sánchez and him in La Moncloa to agree on the process.
Chinese visitors had already come to the land where they intend to settle in Europe with the aim, Puente continues, of establishing themselves on the continent in the face of international trade swings with US tariffs and occasional problems in the distribution of components for the booming electric car. “The entry of Gotion favors the most powerful investment,” specifies the former mayor, since in September Inobat obtained 54 million Spanish euros through PERTE III in what the Industry, directed by Jordi Hereu, reported as “continues to strengthen its commitment to green reindustrialization and the creation of quality employment”.
There was then talk of “712 million euros and the creation of 260 direct and around 500 indirect jobs”, figures destined to multiply with the Asian giant. Gotion’s moves reflect its growing ties with Europe and its partners, as when in 2020 the Volkswagen Group bought 25.6% of the company, recently allied with the Spanish company Phi4Tech, which specializes in researching components for electric batteries.
Likewise, the Chinese company is building a headquarters in Morocco to supply raw materials to the one planned in Valladolid. For its part, Transport has allocated 253 million to renovate and expand the Valladolid train station as a connection with the ports of Santander and Bilbao and, therefore, with France, key for industrial initiatives such as this or those already existing by Renault, Iveco or Michelin, all linked to the automotive industry. Along with this, a connection to Olmedo (Valladolid) is being prepared to speed up connections with the north and a freight variant to strengthen Valladolid as a railway hub.
Puente attributes his “interlocution” work to the fact that he already had a relationship with Inobat since 2023 —“They consider me the father of the child”— and highlights several key points of the city: high-speed train and with Madrid and Portugal nearby, two hours by car from seaports, access to huge renewable energy, land well supplied with water, nearby universities with talent to work in this node, the automotive hub with Palencia and Burgos and the airport, where Li Zhen is landed with his team to visit the plots.
Simplify procedures
Now all that remains is to speed up the “procedures” and Puente is confident that the City Council (PP-Vox, with which he has several disputes) and the Council (of the PP since 1987) will contribute to this “positive investment for Valladolid, the community and Spain”. His successor in the city, Jesús Julio Carnero (PP), declared that he was “in permanent contact” with entrepreneurs to facilitate “what corresponds to us, the land”, and pledged to “support all investments that give continuity to a sector as important as the city’s automotive industry”. “It’s very positive news.”
Everything is moving forward, assess Eva Driessen, member of the board of directors of Inobat Iberia, and Eleuterio Gordaliza, leader of Inobat Iberia. Both explain how Gotion bought 25% of the parent company Inobat and soon expressed a desire to “look for land to expand the business, not only the Valladolid factory but also the anode and cathode factory, before the battery factories were established”. They liked the project already started and wanted to participate in it and learn more, hence the trip: “They ratified the interest outside the previous gigafactory, they liked everything, the meeting with Sánchez and Puente was essential and they assure support.”
“They are very happy, they confirmed that we are moving forward with the execution proposal,” adds Gordaliza, as the Chinese masters want to speed up. Driessen highlights the “industrial fabric of Castilla y León, very concentrated on the automotive industry and with a large available human capital, good infrastructure and institutional support” while Gordaliza believes that the entire community will benefit “for example because Inobat plans a research, development and innovation center in Salamanca and Gotion wants to create a large green energy infrastructure around these factories”. “They will be a center of attraction, more companies will be able to come to fuel that project and its supplies.”
