CATL is creating a separate operating unit in Debrecen for warehousing, battery repackaging, module and pack assembly, machining and manufacturing equipment repair, as the Chinese battery producer continues to expand its industrial footprint in eastern Hungary.
The new company, GreenPower Energy Debrecen Kft., is wholly owned by CATL Debrecen and is expected to start operations at the end of October 2026, once the necessary permits have been obtained. It will operate from a 44,000 sqm industrial hall in Debrecen’s Southern Industrial Park, next to CATL’s existing module assembly facility.
More than 90 hires planned by year-end
GreenPower Energy Debrecen is expected to employ more than 90 people by the end of 2026, adding another layer to CATL’s growing employment base in the city. The new site will handle storage and logistics operations, battery repackaging, battery module and pack assembly, as well as the repair of production equipment and fixtures. A machining workshop will also operate inside the facility.
CATL has stressed that no battery cell manufacturing will take place in the new building and that the planned activities will not alter the electrochemical properties of batteries. The hall will use automated industrial systems for a significant part of its operations, while the company says water and energy requirements will remain limited.
Facility leased from state-owned Inpark
The 44,000 sqm building is part of the industrial property portfolio developed by state-owned Inpark. Environmental impact assessment process for the new operation has been under way since June 23, while construction of the hall itself had already started earlier.
CATL said automation and workplace safety were among the main priorities in designing the operation, with processes subject to continuous monitoring and safety requirements.
CATL targets 2,300 employees in Debrecen
As of July, CATL employed around 1,470 people in Debrecen, roughly two-thirds of them Hungarian workers, and the company said it aimed to increase headcount to approximately 2,300 by the end of 2026.
Battery module production has been under way in Debrecen since autumn 2024. By July 2026, CATL said it had produced around 381,000 battery modules, sufficient for approximately 87,000 electric vehicles.
Debrecen project planned at up to €7.34 billion
CATL originally announced its Debrecen investment in 2022 as a project worth up to €7.34 billion, with planned total battery production capacity of 100 GWh. The development covers 221 hectares in the Southern Industrial Park and is designed to manufacture battery cells and modules for European automotive customers.
The company’s later disclosures show that the first two phases are designed for a combined 72 GWh of annual capacity, comprising 34 GWh in Phase I and 38 GWh in Phase II, with total investment for those phases estimated at around €4.9 billion.
