BUDAPEST - China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited (CATL) said on Wednesday its battery cell factory in Debrecen, Hungary, is prepared for launch and will be central to the company's strategy to deepen its long-term European operations.

The plant, with an initial annual capacity of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh), is already fully booked by clients, CATL said. Cell production is scheduled to start in early 2026 after construction and installation of Industry 4.0 equipment is completed. The company is expanding its local workforce and expects to employ 1,500 people by the first quarter of 2026.

"Our Debrecen investment is a major step towards strengthening CATL's European presence," said Matt Shen, managing director of CATL Germany and Hungary. "We are planning for the long term, bringing our most advanced and sustainable manufacturing technologies to Hungary."

Shen added that European partners had been "eagerly awaiting" the project's completion.

CATL said the plant was designed to meet strict European environmental standards, with recent permit adjustments cutting projected energy use by nearly 30 percent and reducing potable water demand to about a third of earlier estimates. The company aims to achieve carbon-neutral certification for the facility within two years of launch.

The Debrecen site's workforce has already exceeded 1,000, with two-thirds of new hires coming from the local community, the company said.

Recruitment head Alexandra Kitta said the company aims to create a "local company with international know-how and opportunities."