Sines, Portugal, Oct. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - The managing director of CALB Europe, Sherry Wei, said on Thursday that the choice of Sines for the construction of a lithium battery factory incorporating cutting-edge technology is strategic, given its proximity to Europe.
The Port of Sines, in the district of Setúbal, "is very close to our factory", which is being built in the Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone (ZILS), making the connection "to Spain and the centre of Europe", said Sherry Wei, speaking to the Lusa news agency.
"All these advantages give us a lot of convenience for the operation and also reduce costs," she added, speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of a meeting held in the auditorium of the Sines and Algarve Ports Administration (APS) to discuss the role of energy storage in the European energy transition.
According to the managing director of the Chinese manufacturer CALB Europe, "also the cost for employees" could guarantee "a very good and beneficial operation".
"That's why we chose Portugal, Sines, simply to cover all our marketing for Europe," she emphasised.
The event, organised in partnership with the Portuguese Engineers' Association and attended by representatives from Galp, Mota-Engil Energia, E-Redes, Greenvolt, Siemens, ABB and APREN, discussed the energy storage strategy in Portugal and technological trends in the BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) sector.
Asked about the BESS engineering that CALB intends to incorporate into the Sines gigafactory, an investment of €2 billion, Sherry Wei assured that it was "world-leading technology".
"The technology that [we will] transfer to the Portuguese plant is world-leading technology, and there are many of them, from engineering, manufacturing, equipment, battery design, [and] all of this involves know-how," she said.
According to the leader, of the "100 technologies that lead the industry, 20 [are] exclusive" to Chinese manufacturer CALB.
"So it's a very advanced manufacturing engineering technology," she revealed.
In a statement, the Chinese manufacturer explained that energy storage systems "are emerging as one of the most transformative technologies in the energy sector, making it possible to store electricity, often produced from renewable sources, and make it available at times of peak demand".
"In 2024, Europe added around 22 Gwh [Gigawatt-hours] of new BESS capacity, with a 79% growth in large-scale projects. By 2025, the market is expected to almost double, reaching 16.2 Gwh," he emphasised.
Asked by Lusa about the state of construction of the plant, which is expected to create 1,800 direct jobs, she said that "earthworks began in February", shortly after the launch of the works in Lisbon, and will be completed "by the end of that year".
"Our goal is to make the first delivery in 2028, early 2028," she told Lusa.
The industrial unit will occupy around 45 of the 92 hectares of the plot, with five buildings planned for the production of electrodes, cells, training and assembly, packaging, and enclosures.
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