The company Northvolt announces it has raised a billion dollars, equivalent to about 888 million euros, from investors. Using the investment, Northvolt plans to build a huge battery plant in Sweden; the plant is to be one of the largest in Europe.
Northvolt is a company founded in 2016 by Peter Carlsson, a former Tesla executive. At the time, Carlsson announced plans to build a battery factory in northern Sweden. Northvolt focuses not only on producing batteries for the automotive sector, but also for power grids and industrial customers, among others. In addition to battery cells and battery systems, the company also wants to provide smart diagnostic solutions.
The company operates globally. Sweden, for instance, is home to Northvolt's R&D lab and demo centre, while the country will also be the site of the company's first factory. Poland's Gdansk is home to a production site for battery modules and energy storage solutions. In addition, Northvolt has operations in Stockholm, Sweden, and Osaka, Japan.
Gigafactory for battery cells
In an investment round, Northvolt has raised part of the funding needed for its new mega plant. The investment round was led by Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs. In addition, BMW Group, AMF, Folksam Group and IMAS Foundation are also putting money into Northvolt. A total of nearly 900 million euros has been raised from investors. The money will be used to build the first "gigafactory" for lithium-ion battery cells in Skellefteå, Sweden. Earlier, it was announced that the European Investment Bank is backing the construction of Northvolt's battery plant with €350 million in funding.
The Swedish plant will initially have a production capacity of 16 GWh of batteries per year. Over time, this should be increased to 32 GWh. By comparison, production at Tesla's Gigafactory 1 in the US state of Nevada was ramped up to around 20 GWh per year by mid-2018.
Milestone
"Today is not only a great milestone for Northvolt, but also an important moment for Europe that clearly demonstrates that we are ready to compete in the coming wave of electrification, and that we will do so with battery cells that deliver the lowest possible carbon footprint," said Carlsson, CEO of Northvolt.
Construction of the plant is expected to start in August. Northvolt reports plans to start large-scale battery production in 2021. Northvolt Ett, as the plant will be called, will be Northvolt's primary production site. The focus at the plant will be on active material preparation, battery cell assembly, recycling and ancillary manufacturing.
Second battery plant in Lower Saxony
Together with Volkswagen Group, Northvolt also announced plans to build a second large-scale battery plant in Salzgitter in Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen is investing around 900 million euros in the companies' joint operations. Part of this amount is earmarked for a joint venture set up by Volkswagen and Northvolt, while the remainder of the investment will be put directly into Northvolt.
The German plant should be operational by late 2023 or early 2024. Volkswagen and Northvolt expect to increase the site's production capacity to 24 GWh over time. "Volkswagen is laying the groundwork at all levels for the successful implementation of its electrification strategy. With Northvolt, we have a European party whose know-how and sustainable, CO2-optimised battery cell production processes will enable us to advance battery cell production here in Germany. A prerequisite for this is, of course, the creation of a political framework."
Northvolt and Volkswagen previously established the European Battery Union (EBU). Through this consortium, the parties conduct joint research on battery cells, ranging from raw materials to battery cell technology and recycling. Through the EBU, the parties aim to gain more knowledge on battery cell production.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Northvolt
