Exyte has been contracted to build a dry room at Volkswagen’s battery cell gigafactory in Salzgitter, Germany, according to an announcement from the company. The dry room will be located within the larger factory and occupy an area equal to five soccer fields, Exyte said. Volkswagen said this will be its first company-owned battery cell production facility. Construction is underway in Salzgitter, with plans to begin manufacturing cells for volume segment vehicles in 2025. The gigafactory is projected to have an annual capacity of 40GWh, enabling 500,000 electric vehicles per year, Volkswagen said.
The dry room is essential for battery cell production, requiring strict control of humidity, particles and other contaminants, Exyte explained. The company said it will handle the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the dry room and its safety systems.
With decades of experience building semiconductor fabrication facilities, Exyte said it has the expertise to deliver controlled factory environments like the dry room. The company added it has already constructed the largest dry room currently in Europe.
According to Volkswagen, Salzgitter will serve as a model for its global expansion of electric vehicle battery production. The company intends to operate six battery cell gigafactories in Europe and North America by 2030. It plans to invest over €20 billion (approx. $21,183,400,000) to generate €20 billion in annual battery sales and create up to 20,000 jobs in Europe, Volkswagen said.
