After the summer, Volvo Trucks will begin producing battery packs for electric HGVs at its assembly plant in Ghent. Initially, the company will assemble around 30,000 battery packs a year in Ghent, creating fifty new jobs and securing significant industrial activity within North Sea Port.
An electric HGV requires up to six of these packs, weighing about 500 kilos each. Assembly will begin in a specially converted 3,600 m² factory facility with a 1,800 m³ canopy. The components and battery cells will be supplied by Samsung.
The Ghent plant will also produce these battery packs for the group’s foreign plants, as it holds a central location within Europe and the multimodal transport options centred on the port. The Swedish parent company has invested €17 million in Ghent, its largest production facility.
The first electric HGVs will be available in Ghent next year. Meanwhile, the packs will be shipped to the factory in Sweden. Volvo Trucks aims to generate 50% of sales from electric HGVs by 2030, and that by 2040, production will be completely carbon-neutral. That sustainability aim aligns with North Sea Port’s objective of becoming a climate-neutral port.
According to its website “North Sea Port has made automotive one of the seven spearhead sectors in its strategic plan. The Volvo Trucks and Volvo Cars assembly plants in Ghent are the heavyweights in this segment on the industrial side. They not only generate considerable flows of components and finished products and therefore a great deal of logistical activity, but also more than 10,000 direct jobs and considerable added value. Added to that is the indirect employment with suppliers and logistics service providers.
“The cross-border port is also an important European hub for other brands, including Ro-Ro lines connecting North Sea Port with Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, a rail link to China and major distribution operations for companies such as Honda.”
