HANOI - VinES Energy Solutions, a unit of Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup JSC and China's Gotion High-Tech , have commenced construction of a $275 million battery factory in the Southeast Asian country, Vingroup said on Friday.

The factory in the central province of Ha Tinh will annually produce 30 million lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells, the company said in a statement.

The cells will be used for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, it said, adding that the factory is scheduled to start production in the third quarter of next year.

The factory will help meet the battery needs of VinFast, an electric vehicle production arm of Vingroup, it said.

VinFast said on Thursday it had struck a deal with U.S. car subscription service Autonomy to supply more than 2,500 units, its largest corporate order to date, as part of a plan to expand further in the market.

(Reporting Phuong Nguyen; Writing by Khanh Vu; Editing by Sam Holmes)