Samsung SDI to Expand Battery Production Plant

The second phase of Samsung SDI’s Hungarian investment with the construction of new buildings at the company’s business site in Göd, north of Budapest, is now completed. The second phase will yield 1,200 new jobs and a significant increase in the plant’s battery cell production. The Korean company invested EUR 1.2 billion to expand the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles in Hungary. Samsung SDI, a member of the Samsung Group, has produced batteries and energy storage systems of various sizes, types, and usage for more than 20 years. Its most important partners in the automotive industry include several leading European vehicle manufacturers, which rely on Samsung products for their hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles.

Production at the Göd battery plant started in 2018 after the reconstruction of a former TV screen factory. Samsung SDI was the first global player to establish operations in Hungary’s electro-mobility industry and its presence has helped draw the attention of other significant Asian companies to Hungary as an investment destination. Prominent Asian peers like SK Innovation, GS Yuasa, and Shinheung have also set up European centers in Hungary in the past years.

The European Commission has launched a detailed investigation to determine whether the Hungarian government's plan to grant EUR 108 million in state aid to Samsung SDI for the expansion of the manufacturing plant in Göd is in line with the bloc’s regional state aid regulations, online news portal napi.hu reported.