Belgian battery manufacturer ABEE plans to invest €1.1 billion in three Bulgarian sites, a battery factory, a research and development centre and a recycling facility, resulting in about 1,200 new jobs.
The project, named “BulgaPower,” initially promises 10 GWh of battery capacity, with plans to double this in future.
The recycling site is expected to process 50,000 tonnes of material each year, making it the largest of its kind in the Balkans.
The production site will be located in Stara Zagora, central Bulgaria. The research centre will be opened in Plovdiv, the country’s second largest city, while the recycling plant will be situated in Bourgas, a coastal city on the Black Sea.
The facilities are set to be fully operational within the next five years.
ABEE, short for Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering, was established in 2019 by Brussels entrepreneur Noshin Omar to support the rapidly growing battery industry.
The company, headquartered in Ninove, Eastern Flanders, has since announced several investments, aiming to become “the leader of the battery industry in Europe.”
In Belgium,it operates two sites in Hainaut – in Seneffe-Manage and Dour.
Elsewhere in Europe, ABEE has invested €40 million in North Macedonia and €1.4 billion in Romania for battery production.
