BARCELONA: Volkswagen has picked a site near Valencia for its planned battery cell plant in Spain and intends to start operations in 2026 with around 3,000 employees and annual production of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh), the German carmaker said on Wednesday. The world’s second-largest automaker has set a target to build six large battery factories across Europe with partners by the end of the decade as it strives to become a global leader in electric vehicles. Volkswagen has said previously its investment in the Spanish plant depends on receiving European Union pandemic relief funds. The Spanish government last week launched a bidding process to hand out around 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) — around half in grants — to promote EV production, with Volkswagen and its Spanish unit SEAT among the bidders. The German group said it planned to spend more than 7 billion euros ($7.7 billion), along with external suppliers, on the Sagunto plant and to start EV production at SEAT’s factory outside Barcelona and at VW’s factory outside Pamplona. Automakers across the world are racing to build battery plants to supply new electric models. A joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies said on Wednesday it planned to build a battery factory in Italy. The Sagunto plant will have several partners, but they have not been decided yet and could include other carmakers, SEAT’s chairman Wayne Griffiths told a press briefing. It would be the single largest investment in industrial infrastructure ever in Spain, according to SEAT, which said it expected “substantial” public aid to support it. Volkswagen’s German battery plant in Salzgitter will be built by 2025 in partnership with China’s Gotion High-Tech , in which Volkswagen owns a 26 percent stake.