The Czech state-owned energy company ČEZ is preparing to build a giant automobile battery company in Northern Bohemia and is working with several potential partners to choose a specific location. Hospodářské noviny reports that sources within the company have nicknamed the project ‘gigafactory’ after the automobile plant being built by Tesla outside Berlin. More importantly, those sources claim the factory would cost around €1bn to complete. “As an important automobile producer, Czechia is a logical candidate for the development of the battery industry,” said ČEZ spokesman Roman Gazdik. The company recently acquired a majority share in the company Geomet, which has mining rights in Cinovec where a large supply of lithium is found. The pandemic may end up being used by the automobile industry to force regulators in Europe to ease up on their environmental demands, but otherwise, the timing of the project is good. Car producers are under intense pressure to reduce the emissions of their entire fleets and the most effective way to do this would be to sell more electric vehicles.
